senor honda

So who replaces Nico Rosberg?

First thing’s first: They need to repair the relationship with the one driver they have left. It came to light after the season that Lewis Hamilton had seriously considered quitting either the team or the sport altogether in 2016, so disillusioned was he by the manner in which Mercedes had dealt with the fallout from first Barcelona and then Austria. Despite the team’s protestations that it would not get involved in the championship fight in Abu Dhabi, the radio calls still came to Hamilton to up his pace, despite it being clear to all that he was simply doing what he had to do to try and hold onto his title, and that had Sebastian Vettel ever got anywhere near him he’d have picked his socks up.


How did Mercedes manage to play the situation so badly? What was really said in Barcelona? What pacts were made? Hamilton says we will find out one day, but the permutations are fascinating.
But after a season in which Hamilton clearly felt the team favored Rosberg over him, the team now has to make amends. They have to rebuild the bridges burned by their supposed support of a driver who no longer races for them.
All of this leaves Hamilton in a position of hegemony, and should Rosberg’s replacement not mark a challenge to Hamilton it is possible that his own power within the operation of the team could increase. So too his desire to quit himself and leave the team high and dry should a fourth world title be wrapped up.
Hamilton himself says he doesn’t mind who his new teammate is. The only stipulation he has is that they receive equal treatment. He doesn’t want to be number one. He doesn’t want to be handed a championship. But after the difficulties they have had controlling two number one drivers over the past three seasons, would Mercedes genuinely pitch for another top-line driver?
Mercedes says it has to consider Fernando Alonso as an option. Rumors out of Spain say that he is 50-50 for the seat. Now, we know that Alonso and Hamilton have long since buried the hatchet after their divisive 2007 campaign, and have built a mutual respect for one another and we can salivate at the thought of the two as teammates again. But would Zak Brown let Alonso leave McLaren?
Then there’s the ever intriguing position of Sebastian Vettel. Sure, he’s saying the right things to please Ferrari at the moment, but Maranello is not a happy place, and with the political mess that exists behind the scenes it could take a long time for it to recover its winning ways. Seb was able to leave Red Bull at the end of 2014 because it has long been understood that he holds a release clause in all his contracts that is sprung if he fails to achieve a set percentage of the points won by the champion. In Abu Dhabi he failed to make a move on Rosberg in the closing laps despite being in range. One wonders if having done so might have pitched him over that percentage. Sure, no seats were free at the time, but might Sebastian have been playing the game to give himself an out if he needed it? It’s only speculation, but an interesting notion.

Then there’s Jenson Button, himself out of a ride at McLaren and who admitted in Abu Dhabi that he thought he may have called time on his career a touch too early. Red Bull aren’t going to let Daniel Ricciardo or Max Verstappen out of their grip, so we can factor them out of the equation.
Which means, if we are looking at the top level, it seems it’d be either Alonso or Vettel. While both would be incredible, neither seems tremendously likely. And either would give Mercedes a competitive headache it has proven over the past three years it is not brilliant at handling.
So how about the promising racers who’ve never quite had their big chance? Renault say they won’t be letting Nico Hulkenberg go. Force India says they have Sergio Perez locked down. Romain Grosjean apparently has a get-out clause in his Haas contract should a top team come knocking, but it is believed this may be Ferrari-specific. But Williams is being surprisingly quiet about Valtteri Bottas. The Finn is, lest we forget, managed by Toto Wolff and would form a strong partner for Hamilton. But Williams wouldn’t let him go easily. With Lance Stroll joining the team next season, Williams needs a dependable and experienced team leader, and to lose Bottas would be a tremendous blow.
And so to the youngsters. Carlos Sainz knows he isn’t going to get promoted to Red Bull Racing anytime soon. He is in limbo – and he can’t stay there for long. But Mercedes has its own junior program to perhaps think about before plundering Red Bull’s. Esteban Ocon is seen as by far the best prospect, but Force India will do all it can to hang onto him. And besides, Wolff has already said that the Silverstone team is a good base for him next season. Which leaves just Pascal Wehrlein.
The German has taken many plaudits in 2016 after scoring points for the small Manor F1 team. Voted “Rookie of the Season” in countless polls, his nose was very much put out of joint when Force India chose Ocon over him. But the reason they did so seems to lie not only in the fact his race pace can often tail off, but in his overall attitude. He has built up a reputation for being something of a prima donna who believes he’s already made it. Scarf blowing in the wind like Isadora Duncan, perfectly quaffed hair, he’s known in certain parts of the paddock as “Princess Pascal.”
Perhaps a year alongside Lewis Hamilton would bring him down to size. Perhaps it would destroy him. It’s a big gamble to take.
If it was down to me, I’d be on the phone to Helmut Marko and would be offering him whatever it took to pry Carlos Sainz away from the Red Bull family. He is one of the most gifted, promising and hardworking drivers in Formula 1 today. His performances in 2016 merited a place in my top five drivers of the year. To me there is no doubt that he is a champion in waiting, who would learn from Hamilton, pressure him as he grew, and position himself to lead the team once Hamilton himself retires.
So thank you, Nico, for everything. And for this final gift of a shake-up that could change the course not just of 2017, but potentially the next decade.