Richard Baxter: Weather, world champions and Austin hat-throwing
Lewis Hamilton – Triple World Champion… It’s is something we’re going to have to get used to saying now, and what a way to win it.
In a whole weekend of unpredictability, he managed to clinch victory from his team-mate and win the drivers’ Formula One world championship.
Austin was supposed to be all about Hamilton, but the weather had different ideas. With Hurricane Patricia bearing down on Mexico, Austin was caught in storms all weekend – and it left us with some great action when the cars eventually managed to get on track.
I’ve had several people ask me why F1 can’t be more like this all the time? But really the wet track basically created a level playing field. Red Bull and McLaren, who have both had engine woes all year, were fighting for some big points – with Red Bull even fighting for the race win while the track remained wet.
If Honda and Renault can make competitive engines for next year, we should see more of these action-packed races, even in dry conditions.
After the race, we saw an incident that has been in the headlines a lot over the last week, with Nico Rosberg throwing his hat back at Hamilton.
There has been plenty said but in my opinion, it isn’t too surprising. Rosberg was clearly very frustrated – partly because of Hamilton’s first-corner move, but also because he was leading the race and it was his own error that cost him victory.
I don’t think Hamilton was trying to play any mind games with him. I think he was just passing him his hat to say ‘hurry up, let’s get out there’. He also threw Sebastian Vettel his hat at the same time.
Hamilton had just won the championship; he was excited and wanted to celebrate. Rosberg throwing the hat back was just an over-reaction and a way to let out all the frustration. It is a shame he didn’t celebrate more with Hamilton though, given all they have been through together.
I do feel for Rosberg. He is a talented driver who has raced well over the last few seasons. I personally hope he does win a drivers’ championship and doesn’t go down the same route as Rubens Barrichello and Mark Webber, as one of the best to not win a championship.
The championship may have been decided but the season isn’t over. So with a new race in Mexico next up and the unpredictability of Brazil still to come, we could still be in for a few more surprises.
♦ Richard Baxter is a member of the NRF1 Podcast crew. Follow Richard on Twitter @bax_kid