Nico Rosberg cruised to victory at the Japanese Grand Prix, piling more pressure on Lewis Hamilton as he closes in on a first world title.
Rosberg claimed his first win at Suzuka from pole as Hamilton took third after a horror start, the German stretching his lead over his teammate to 33 points with just four races left this season.
In today’s #360debate, we ask: Can Lewis Hamilton catch Nico Rosberg in the race for the F1 crown?
STUART APPLEBY, Sport360.com, says YES
The odds are stacked against Lewis Hamilton. But the Briton’s season isn’t over and he will still believe he can win a third consecutive world championship.
While he was quick to applaud the work of team Mercedes in securing yet another constructors’ title, the 31-year-old certainly wouldn’t have had that winning feeling. For all the pitlane politics that have gone on, Hamilton isn’t the type of guy to celebrate finishing second and expect him to dig deep in the final four races of the season.
Let’s not make any bones about it though, Nico Rosberg is well and truly in the driving seat. With a strong 33-point lead and 100 points still on offer, the in-form German would have to suffer a big collapse but it could well happen.
3 years in a row. Unbelievable! A huge congrats to my amazing team on a job well done this year! 🙌🏾 #TheTriple #Champions @MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/gtJROoh4BF
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) October 9, 2016
Why? He has yet to get over that final hurdle and even if he doesn’t show it, Rosberg will be carrying mental scars from the past two seasons. It can’t have been easy watching his season ebb, flow and slip away while Hamilton claimed back-to-back titles. It will be playing on his mind and the pressure and expectation rests solely with him.
Yes, the leader is in form and has the luxury of being able to finish second behind his team-mate in all the remaining races and still be crowned champion – but he’s not a world-class front runner.
Hamilton needs to pick himself up and give complete focus to the track – and forget about what’s gone on in the media.
Interviews and press conferences are without doubt repetitive and dull for him. Hamilton is handsomely paid for doing something he has to do contractually and his walkout actually showed he isn’t a media trained robot. For me, this and the Snapchat furore, was far more refreshing than a cliched soundbite but at the end of the day he can’t really win. Speak out or do something away from the norm, equals criticism; if you toe the party line, media are annoyed as you’re not saying anything newsworthy.
This year hasn’t been Hamilton’s happiest in his sport but I expect him to produce fireworks on the track and make Rosberg really work for his maiden title.
NIALL MCCAGUE, Sport360.com, says NO
Momentum means so much in Formula One and Nico Rosberg has it firmly on his side. He looks primed to seal that elusive first championship crown. After being pipped to the post by Hamilton in the final race of the 2014 season in Abu Dhabi, Rosberg has every chance of making amends by having the title wrapped up before arriving in the UAE capital next month.
The gap looks daunting for Hamilton, and even if he were to win the last four races and Rosberg were to finish runner-up, we would have a new champion.
Questions marks have always hung over whether Rosberg has what it takes to be a world champion, but no driver has won nine races in a season and not claimed the drivers’ championship.
Since the summer break, Hamilton – plagued by a series of mechanical failures – has lacked the edge, while Rosberg has looked confident and composed.
Surely you can now at least start thinking about the world championship, @nico_rosberg?
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 9, 2016
Can't you? #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/RPGaSdS9JK
Singapore may well prove the defining point in Hamilton’s dented title ambitions as his engine blew 15 laps from the end . Engine failures also wrecked his weekends in China, Russia and Malaysia – fortune and form just doesn’t seem to be on the three-time champion’s side.
By contrast, it is Rosberg’s consistency that has catapulted him to the top of the standings. He has converted eight pole positions into six victories, while Hamilton’s eight poles have led to just three wins. Rosberg has also secured at least a podium position in seven of his last eight races.
It will take a catastrophic turn of events for the German to all of a sudden stop performing at that level; while even if Hamilton was to start qualifying with distinction in the remaining four races, who’s to say he’ll go on to win them all?
The gap between the drivers looks too great, and it will take a miracle for Hamilton to prevail. He may have overturned a points’ deficit earlier in the season, but with pressure building, it seems likely that we will see Rosberg celebrating a maiden title under the bright lights of Yas Marina Circuit on November 27 and end his decade-long journey to the pinnacle of his sport.
