Poll Did Hamilton do the right thing?

[cider_and_toast]

At the very real risk of burning out the moderators tool kit, let's put it to bed.

Did Lewis Hamilton do the right thing in Abu Dhabi in backing his teammate into the chasing pack and disobeying team orders?

It's a simple poll, yes or no.

For what its worth, I think Hamilton did the best he could under the circumstances to give himself the best shot at retaining the title. So I'm voting 'yes'.

 

[The Pits]

All a question of perspective i guess.

Personally, Lewis did what he needed to do. I dont know what the team expected to happen.

 

[Titch]

Having thought about it, long and hard, I have voted yes. He wanted to be WDC, and I think he felt that NR should at least have to fight for it. NR got past Max, what was to stop him driving hard and getting past Lewis, and winning from the front. By swanning around in second wasn't he doing exactly what Lewis was trying to do, when he waspushing him back to fourth. It could be argued that NR was unsporting by not trying hard enough to win the race.

 

[Wombcat]

I'm so far the only who voted no. Because backing a fellow competitor into others is one thing, but backing a teammate into traffic is another. You can race your teammate, but that does not mean you try to let other drivers give chances to overtake your teammate.

 

[Incubus]

I don't think I can vote either way because right and wrg don't come into it.

When it comes to a collision involving two drivers there is an element of right and wrong because one driver can be mor at fault than the other and we can all debate as to which.

When it's a diffeence of objectives between team and driver it's strictly a matter for themselves. If I were a boss at Mercedes I'd think Hamilton was in the wrong. If I were Hamilton I'd think I was in the right. Who are we to object to either?

 

[Tacitus]

Yes, because I'm a fan of drama and made the race interesting even if it did raise my heart rate.

 

[Greenlantern101]

Backing Nico into the field was the fairest option open to Lewis in order to attempt and force Nico lower down the field. And he only did this in the last 10 laps.

It wasn't 'nice' but it was 'fair'

Another option was he could of brake tested him and taken Nicos front wing off. Just saying.

Yes. from me.

 

[Hamberg]

It wasn't 'nice' but it was 'fair'

That ^^^.

I didn't like it. I'm not sure I could have forgiven Lewis if it paid off. I can't find a valid argument against it though.

 

[marksawatsky]

Lewis did Nico a favor by putting him into a pressure cooker situation where Nico didn't crack and did what he had to do. Teammate or no, they are still competing for the same trophy

 

[teabagyokel]

No, it's not really in the spirit of the thing. Could well have been much worse though.

 

[snowy]

Mercedes warned Lewis that if he backed Nico up they would pit Nico and give him the undercut. Mercedes were the first to break their own moronic season long rules of engagement. Lewis's drive and strategy was superbly intelligent and stuck two fingers up to Mercs twisted, fanatical and illogical pursuit of fairness. Hypothetically allowing their drivers to race but only within finite and ill conceived boundaries deserved to be shat upon from a very great height.

 

[TR]

No, it's not really in the spirit of the thing. Could well have been much worse though.

And is risk averse driving in second place no even trying to win the race "really in the spirit of the thing"? If Nico was bother by Lewis backing him into the pack then he should have overtaken him. Simple. If he couldn't? Well, then he was Lewis's to do with what he wanted.

 

[cider_and_toast]

Nervously tracking Hamilton in 2nd place was far safer than risking it all to get in front.

Gary Anderson has written a piece on the Autosport website criticising the Mercedes management and praising both Hamilton's and Rosberg's performance.

 

[FB]

I still think Lewis would have proved far more of a point if he had blasted off in to the distance and made Nico look like a 2nd rate driver in comparison. His attempt to drive him backwards was childish and inappropriate. Also, once Vettel passed Max it didn't matter how slowly Hamilton drove Sebastian was then "rear gunner" to his German compatriot and the last thing he would want is another 4 time WDC on the grid.

 

[teabagyokel]

Mercedes were the first to break their own moronic season long rules of engagement.

Can't imagine slowing down your team-mate was permitted at any point.

 

[Olivier]

I voted no. It didn't feel right what he did. It's a tough sport that I understand but walking those grey roads for too long and you end up in a bad place.

 

[cider_and_toast]

I think Hamilton faced an interesting version of the prisoners dilemma. He needed his teammate to make a mistake because in Hamilton looking after himself, his victory in the race was assured but that in turn would let his teammate run his own race and take the title.

It's the sort of challenge that could keep professors of game theory going for months.

 

[Hamberg]

Actually, shouldn't this be a default 'no' based on it being Horner's idea?

 

[Titch]

The more time that passes, the more I feel that Team Mercedes were wrong. They should have said nothing, absolutely nothing. They already had it all in the bag.
Let the two fight it out, it wouldn't have changed the team situation.

The only thing they did, was insure that Rosberg won.

Should that be ensure

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

The funny thing is that of course they'd already won the WCC anyway, but the more constructors points they get the more their entry will cost next year, so really the best thing for the team money-wise was to not actually win at Abu Dhabi.