BUXTON: Hello, Goodbye

Tuesday, 06 December 2016


Will Buxton / Images by LAT

We'd joked about it, of course. When he held a 43-point lead in the early championship standings it looked clear that 2016 would be Nico Rosberg's best chance at winning the championship. If he didn't take the trophy he'd be finished. And if he did, he'd probably do best to retire.
But nobody, and I mean nobody, ever saw this coming.
There are few who could blame him for taking the decision he has. It takes a big man to take stock of his life at such a comparatively young age and to decide that he had achieved all he wanted to in the field to which he had dedicated himself since he was barely out of diapers. How many of us, were we in his position, with his bank balance, a wife and a baby, wouldn't love to have walked off into the sunset?
But from a sporting perspective, there's a dilemma. Perhaps it's our problem. That we don't see elite sportsmen and women as normal people like the rest of us. Their competitive desires run deeper, their dedication sets them apart. Their want and their need to fight is what makes them special, and it is that which made us put them on a pedestal in the first place. And so when we see that they're just regular folk, we feel a tinge of disappointment.
Rosberg's announcement filled me with such a quandary. Because while on the one hand I could completely understand his want and his need to stop the travel, end the separation and cease the single-minded focus that comes with racing around in circles, on the other hand, as a fan of his and of the sport, I'd hoped so much he'd hang around.

He had finally beaten Lewis Hamilton to a championship for the first time in his life. After soundly drubbing Michael Schumacher for three years as teammates, Nico Rosberg could hold his head up as having taken on and defeated two of the finest drivers this sport has ever seen. Freed from the constraints and the pressures that winning a first world championship places on a racer, I was so looking forward to seeing just how good he could become. I was excited to witness how Lewis Hamilton would react and redouble his efforts for 2017 and what incredible heights to which the two drivers would push each other next year and beyond.
Selfishly, I wanted more. And I'm so sad the sport won't ever get to see that.
I'm also sad because, even in victory, questions had been raised over whether Rosberg was a worthy world champion. Whether he genuinely deserved his crown. Debate had always raged over his overall racecraft and in particular his ability not only to attack but to defend. Did he ever truly have the stomach for a fight?
That he has walked away without taking on the defense of a title he had worked so hard to achieve will answer that question for some. For others, it will forever leave question marks hanging over whether he truly merits a place among the all-time greats. And that is a great shame.

It’s a great shame also for Mercedes, and in particular his side of the garage. Niki Lauda has spoken of how badly many on Nico’s team have taken the news. This was their championship too, but the man who helped them achieve it has simply taken the plaudits and walked away. Speaking to a rival team boss, he told me he’d have been devastated if his driver had picked up his trophy and quit. Having a world champion on your team is an unrivalled gift for your team and your partners. For the next 12 months, no matter what else happens, he and you are the focal point. It’s why Sir Jackie Stewart always said winning back-to-back titles was so hard. The increase in promotional responsibilities that comes with being world champion makes winning the title the next year all the harder. But you do the tour, you say the right things, smile when asked and take the photos, because you recognize your position, your good fortune and your responsibility. You pay your dues.
Mercedes, its partners, its sponsors and its staff have lost that.
They’ve also lost a damn fine driver.