ID
IN D E TA I L
The World Championship
ONE RACE
AT A TIME
A cool head and a methodical approach was key to
Nico Rosberg finally toppling the mighty Lewis Hamilton in
2016. How did it play out? And what were the key moments?
Adam Cooper takes a closer look.
I
t came down to the last
corner of the last lap, but
in the end he made it.
Thirty four years after
his father Keke won the
title for Williams – famously
earning only one victory
during that dramatic 1982 season –
Nico Rosberg joined Damon Hill on
the exclusive list of sons of World
Champions who have gone on to
repeat the achievement.
Inevitably, debate will continue
about Lewis Hamilton’s claim to the
2016 title, thanks to the huge impact
poor engine reliability had on his
season, in particular that late failure
in Malaysia.
But it would be unfair to allow
such considerations to detract from
Rosberg’s fantastic achievement.
Having spent three years as
Michael Schumacher’s teammate
he has now spent four alongside
Lewis Hamilton, who will surely
be ranked among the all-time greats.
And while overall the Briton comes
out on top statistically, Rosberg has
given him plenty to think about
over their period together. With
23 Grand Prix wins and 30 poles to
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his name he is a more than deserving
World Champion.
The battle for the 2016 title actually
began as soon as Hamilton clinched
last year’s title in Austin. Rosberg
went on to win the next three races
in Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi, and
while there was much speculation to
the effect that Hamilton had mentally
checked out after winning the title,
Rosberg did an awesome job over
those three weekends.
Crucially that run also gave him a
huge confidence boost heading into
the winter, and he began 2016 in a
good place. Always known for his
attention to detail, he seemed more
focussed than ever, adopting a “one
race at a time” approach that seemed
to serve him well.
I always push
myself to get
better and better
all the time,”
he said on the eve of the Abu Dhabi
finale. “In the winter I really think
about which areas I need to work
on. For example, it was one-on-one
battles which was on