#C4F1 Rosberg's decision to retire was the most sensible but certainly not the bravest #F1

"Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown"

I've got rather tired of all the professional Formula One pundits rabbiting on about how Rosberg's decision to retire was a brave one. I think it was the most sensible decision he has ever made and, in fact, it borders on being a cowardly choice too. I realise that race commentators and journalists have to say pleasant things about the participants where possible because they need to get access to them to do their jobs. But is not telling the truth also a part of their job?

And the truth in this case is probably that Rosberg, in the dark corners of the night, must have come to the conclusion that this year was probably the very last one in which he would, with the help of his team, have even a glimmer of a chance at the world championship. This is because next year the rule changes will most likely end the total dominance of Mercedes and give Ferrari and Red Bull the opportunity to battle it out for wins. And Rosberg must know full well that he is, at best, a competent driver rather than a true racer. He must also know that in a straight all-out race he is utterly unlikely to best Lewis Hamilton or even Alonso or Vettel. He would also come off worst with newcomers like Verstappen in wheel to wheel action. So for a man whose future seems uncertain the most attractive option would be to claim the old political option of wanting "to spend more time with my family"

As for the Abu Dhabi final itself, I'm not sure that Hamilton himself adopted the wisest course of action in holding back Rosberg in the hope that he would fall into the clutches of the Ferraris and Red Bulls. It's understandable that he would want to influence the result in that way. After all there is not one driver in history who would not, at least, have contemplated it. Rosberg with his history of unsportsmanlike behaviour would certainly have done the same himself. Personally in Hamilton's shoes I think I would have driven off into the sunset leaving the world to the inevitable conclusion that the best driver did not win the championship. He should really have known that there would be people and Toto Wolff in particular who would view his action unfavourably and contemplate penalties against him in the future. Quite possibly, by disobeying team instructions to let Rosberg pass he was sticking his fingers up at Mercedes and making a comment about their nationalistic and legally dubious support of Rosberg throughout this season.

The intriguing question remaining is who will replace Rosberg in 2017? Mercedes will have to decide quickly as testing begins in a mere couple of months. They will probably have to pay for someone to be released from an existing contract. Hamilton says that he doesn't care but that may be just his way of psyching his opponents out. Alonso is one possibility who I'm quite sure he'd rather not have as a team mate again even though he is Spanish rather than German and therefore extremely unlikely to get the support that Rosberg had within the team hierarchy. Vettel has apparently already ruled himself out although I'm sure Mercedes would have loved to prise him away from Ferrari. I doubt Vettel fancies his chances against Hamilton even with technical support from the team as he is not much more of a genuine racer than Rosberg.

I wonder how Red Bull are enjoying the rivallry between Verstappen and Ricciardo bearing in mind their experience with Vettel and Mark Webber. It might be better to sell one or other of them rather than risk their cars in almost inevitable future clashes. I hope they end up giving as short a contract as they can get away with to somebody like Bottas as he will give Hamilton very little bother. I cannot wait for February to come round.