retiring at 31

[shaun4860]

Billy, I am with you.

He only won against Hamilton this year because of Hamilton's mechanical misfortune. He knew that was unlikely to recur in 2017 and it is the only time he has come out on top above Hamilton in 25 years. Now who will take his place?

You could say the same about 2014....but the other way around,

 

Over the time as team mates they have had the same number of reliability issues,

 

You drive what you have.......

 

Can you honestly see Hamilton when he retires doing it with such grace and dignity.....

 

I'm not a Hamilton fan at all as you may have gathered but he has to be one of the least "Professional" drivers we have had in years.....

 

[chrisjpainter]

Billy, I am with you.

He only won against Hamilton this year because of Hamilton's mechanical misfortune. He knew that was unlikely to recur in 2017 and it is the only time he has come out on top above Hamilton in 25 years. Now who will take his place?

I disagree. Who's to say Hamilton won't continue to have reliability issues? Next year he would have a seriously rapid car, clean sheet, so why not? He might not have beaten him before, but it's the present that counts. If you've beaten someone once, you know you can do it again.

 

I just think he feels, unlike Hamilton, that there's more to life than racing - especially when you've got a wife and a baby. if something goes wrong at 200+mph, that's a massive accident and a potentially life changing consequences. After Joules Bianchi, I think F1 racing drivers are just a little bit less prepared to think 'it'll never happen to me'. He wanted to be world champion. He's done that, time to go home to the lovely wife and baby not put them through the mixer of having to perhaps watch husband and father be killed in a haze of concrete and splintered carbon fibre every other week

 

If every soldier was paid as handsomely as an F1 driver, I wonder how many of them would be prepared to keep going to conflict zones when they know that they absolutely don't need the money?

[Paul1440]

 

I just think he feels, unlike Hamilton, that there's more to life than racing -

I was thinking someyhing similar.. reminded me of a recent interview with Daemon Hill talking about his autobiography. He quit before the end if his last season. He'd carried on after winning the world Championship in a different team. like Rosberg he had a life outside of racing and basically ran out of the motivation to do it anymore and it was taking so much out of him he quit.

 

If you have time look at Hills Win to race average.. It was at one point at 30% and not much lower dhen he finished. And that was invluding the time he spent in the same car that Senna died in.

Edited December 2, 2016 by Paul1440

[four-wheel-drive]

AS I see it he got to the top and thinks its time to move on that has to be a good thing it gives new drivers a chance to go forward and he is not retiring very few people if they have a brain in there head is going to sit around doing nothing. He will soon be looking for new things to occupy his mind be it something to do with motor racing or something different but I have no doubt that whatever he does he will be very good at it.

[Vince Green]

He hasn't retired, people don't retire "with immediate effect" which is what the statement said. He has stuck two fingers up at Mercedes and walked. Frankly, I don't blame him, having to work with the most arrogant bighead in F1 as a team mate and putting up with all his childish tantrums would pee me off too.

 

I think he has done very well to bite his lip and keep his dignity these past few years and even now he has gone without saying what he really thinks.

 

He has my respect

Edited December 3, 2016 by Vince Green

[Scully]

I must be the only person here to think he's a cop-out. Not even attempting to defend his title, let alone try and go for the double or treble

It's a fair point I suppose, but I'm of the opinion that people's circumstances change and with them their priorities.

I also believe it's in his genes, and after a few years he may yearn for a return. We'll see.

[Billy.]

It's a fair point I suppose, but I'm of the opinion that people's circumstances change and with them their priorities.

I also believe it's in his genes, and after a few years he may yearn for a return. We'll see.

 

Yeah, but at least Schumacher returned after smashing out a lot of titles. He dropped out at 35 ish and I'm sure he had a lot of priorities in his life too. He didn't cash his chips in at the first opportunity.

 

Rosberg returning to F1 will be like a guy calling up and old fling and asking if she's interested in having him back.

[Me matt]

Rosberg returning to F1 will be like a guy calling up and old fling and asking if she's interested in having him back.

From experience they've always said yes 😬 But I wouldn't call rosbergs relationship with Mercedes a fling.

[Scully]

 

Yeah, but at least Schumacher returned after smashing out a lot of titles. He dropped out at 35 ish and I'm sure he had a lot of priorities in his life too. He didn't cash his chips in at the first opportunity.

 

Rosberg returning to F1 will be like a guy calling up and old fling and asking if she's interested in having him back.

Ah well. I must admit to being a tad disappointed when Damon Hill retired. He hardly set the world of F1 on fire but I had to admire him more for getting the job done and then getting out while young and still in one piece than I did for his enthusiasm and personality.

I always find the most entertaining drivers are those whose hunger shows through in their personality.

[ShootingEgg]

Alot of people saying about him getting out now and not risking having a bad crash etc. Id say 50 laps is probably safer than most of our daily commutes...

[Fisheruk]

Alot of people saying about him getting out now and not risking having a bad crash etc. Id say 50 laps is probably safer than most of our daily commutes...

Not at 180 following Hamilton in torrential rain it ain't

[shaun4860]

Alot of people saying about him getting out now and not risking having a bad crash etc. Id say 50 laps is probably safer than most of our daily commutes...

What a strange statement,

 

Senna/Ratzenberger/Bianchi/De Villota.......all dead.......Massa hit on the head suffering a serious head injury whilst driving in a straight line minding his own business.....Alonso earlier this year, barrel rolling several times leading to missing races....

 

I would say your daily commute is a tad safer

 

[Billy.]

What a strange statement,

 

Senna/Ratzenberger/Bianchi/De Villota.......all dead.......Massa hit on the head suffering a serious head injury whilst driving in a straight line minding his own business.....Alonso earlier this year, barrel rolling several times leading to missing races....

 

I would say your daily commute is a tad safer

 

 

Whilst it is a dangerous sport, the figures support the fact you'll see fewer deaths per million F1 miles than people driving.

 

Edit: Obviously there are a million different factors affecting public driving and a huge volume of absolutely useless drivers being pitted against the worlds' best.

Edited December 3, 2016 by Billy.

[Highlandladdie]

What a strange statement,

 

Senna/Ratzenberger/Bianchi/De Villota.......all dead.......Massa hit on the head suffering a serious head injury whilst driving in a straight line minding his own business.....Alonso earlier this year, barrel rolling several times leading to missing races....

 

I would say your daily commute is a tad safer

 

UK roads = 5 deaths a day, 62 serious injuries

 

F1 4 dead in 20 years.

 

Not a strange statement at all.

 

Do you check you tyre pressures, engine oil, service you brakes etc every drive? I bet most folk you are on the road with never do any of that. All the cars and all the drivers are of the highest caliber in F1. Now they have massive run off areas and safety cars, virtual safety cars you name it. you've got a seat belt (if you wear it|) and an air bag.

Edited December 3, 2016 by Highlandladdie

[Mike737]

It could depend how you measure it Shaun,

 

In reported road traffic accidents for the year ending March 2016: there were 1,780 road deaths, unchanged from the year ending March 2015. 24,610 people were killed or seriously injured. There were 187,050 casualties of all severities. https://www.gov. uk/.../reported-road-casualties-great-britain-provisional-estimates-january...

 

I don't know how that compares with F1 drivers/miles/hours etc.

 

Absolutely no-one sets off in a morning expecting to become a casualty, otherwise you would stay in bed that day...

 

Mike.

[shaun4860]

Well that's me told

 

I still reckon there is more danger in racing an F1 car than the average daily commute,

 

That's my take and I'm sticking to it

 

[chrisjpainter]

UK roads = 5 deaths a day, 62 serious injuries

 

F1 4 dead in 20 years.

 

Not a strange statement at all.

 

Do you check you tyre pressures, engine oil, service you brakes etc every drive? I bet most folk you are on the road with never do any of that. All the cars and all the drivers are of the highest caliber in F1. Now they have massive run off areas and safety cars, virtual safety cars you name it. you've got a seat belt (if you wear it|) and an air bag.

If it's just drivers, I think it's just 1 - Joules Bianchi?

from 1997-2016 (20 years), that's 1 out of 126 will be killed in an F1 in a 20 year period. So, on average we'll call it 20 races a year (there were only 17 or so races in the early years of that period).

so 400 races, 400x2 hrs (max racing time for an F1) = 800 hrs. 1/126 is killed for every 800 hours of concurrent racing.

 

there is no way the odds of getting killed as a commuter are worse than that. bearing in mind the number of people doing the commute across the whole of the country 365 days a year. I'd take my chances to be honest!

Edited December 3, 2016 by chrisjpainter

[vampire]

I love f1,lets be fair they are both a couple of ***** get Max in rosbergs car and lets see who's who,little more experience and he will be world champ.

[Fisheruk]

Yes Max would be brilliant, but Vettle would give Hamilton a run for his money in a Mercedes.

[Highlandladdie]

If it's just drivers, I think it's just 1 - Joules Bianchi?

from 1997-2016 (20 years), that's 1 out of 126 will be killed in an F1 in a 20 year period. So, on average we'll call it 20 races a year (there were only 17 or so races in the early years of that period).

so 400 races, 400x2 hrs (max racing time for an F1) = 800 hrs. 1/126 is killed for every 800 hours of concurrent racing.

 

there is no way the odds of getting killed as a commuter are worse than that. bearing in mind the number of people doing the commute across the whole of the country 365 days a year. I'd take my chances to be honest!

Sorry my **** maths, you need to remember that it is not just racing. hours and hours and hours of testing, then there is qualification etc. So not quite as extreme as that, and yes commuting I would hazard commuting IS safer per miles driven.

 

I think what I am getting at is it is soooooo safe now that the argument for retiring due to risk is nullified. Give those odds to someone that races in a genuinely dangerous form of motorsport IOM TT or any international road race NW200, UGP, Macau, Scarborough, MX, GNCC/Enduro, Dakar etc etc and they would be over the moon.

 

Former bike racer that lived to tell the tale. I was lucky at life, but not in results

Edited December 4, 2016 by Highlandladdie

[chrisjpainter]

Sorry my **** maths, you need to remember that it is not just racing. hours and hours and hours of testing, then there is qualification etc. So not quite as extreme as that, and yes commuting I would hazard commuting IS safer per miles driven.

 

I think what I am getting at is it is soooooo safe now that the argument for retiring due to risk is nullified. Give those odds to someone that races in a genuinely dangerous form of motorsport IOM TT or any international road race NW200, UGP, Macau, Scarborough, MX, GNCC/Enduro, Dakar etc etc and they would be over the moon.

 

Former bike racer that lived to tell the tale. I was lucky at life, but not in results

There I agree with you! And compare F1 to the earlier days where they were running at more than one death a season for a fair few years! Right now I think they're at almost the perfect balance between speed and safety. Gone are the days when speed was all and to hell with the risk.

[Pushkin]

I've never been a fan of Hamilton beacuse I se him having developed into such an arrogant creep of a guy who has had an awful lot of luck in many of his races - some he won to my mind, with great skill and the best car on teh race day. how2ever, as a human being he is so low and despicable. The comments he has since made, after Rosberg's statement; were so petulant and childish - without actually saying his name- and the disrespect he has given Mercedes during the race (just for starters) I'm surprised he is still even being considered as a driver by them. He obviously thinks he is the team, he is the man, he is the God. Go back to all his team mates ans see how he disrespected them all - and then include the way he treated his father - whom he never even talks about now. He may well race great but he is still a knob head.

 

That feels better now

 

Pushkin

[chrisjpainter]

I've never been a fan of Hamilton beacuse I se him having developed into such an arrogant creep of a guy who has had an awful lot of luck in many of his races - some he won to my mind, with great skill and the best car on teh race day. how2ever, as a human being he is so low and despicable. The comments he has since made, after Rosberg's statement; were so petulant and childish - without actually saying his name- and the disrespect he has given Mercedes during the race (just for starters) I'm surprised he is still even being considered as a driver by them. He obviously thinks he is the team, he is the man, he is the God. Go back to all his team mates ans see how he disrespected them all - and then include the way he treated his father - whom he never even talks about now. He may well race great but he is still a knob head.

 

That feels better now

 

Pushkin

All of this.

[shaun4860]

I've never been a fan of Hamilton beacuse I se him having developed into such an arrogant creep of a guy who has had an awful lot of luck in many of his races - some he won to my mind, with great skill and the best car on teh race day. how2ever, as a human being he is so low and despicable. The comments he has since made, after Rosberg's statement; were so petulant and childish - without actually saying his name- and the disrespect he has given Mercedes during the race (just for starters) I'm surprised he is still even being considered as a driver by them. He obviously thinks he is the team, he is the man, he is the God. Go back to all his team mates ans see how he disrespected them all - and then include the way he treated his father - whom he never even talks about now. He may well race great but he is still a knob head.

 

That feels better now

 

Pushkin

+1

 

Very well put

 

[Me matt]

Loving the way this threads turned into a ******* casualty awareness course 😂 Nico would be proud of you guys.