Mercedes chief dreading double points title win
A WORLD Championship title victory for Nico Rosberg gleaned from double points in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix would taint Formula One, according to his Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.
Rosberg will leapfrog Lewis Hamilton and snatch the crown if he wins at Yas Marina later this month and his British rival and colleague does not finish in the first two places.
A top-six spot would have sufficed for Hamilton in previous seasons, but the introduction of double points for the season’s finale means his 17-point advantage is unusually precarious.
Mercedes motorsport chief Wolff has vowed to urge F1 bosses to scrap the controversial incentive at next month’s meeting, and hopes that it does not play a key role in Abu Dhabi on 23 November.
“You could say the rules are the rules, and we know what they are. If you lose because you haven’t got enough points, it goes in the history books you either won it or lost it [on double points],” he said.
“But then if you imagine a scenario where the championship is turned by a DNF [failure to finish] for example, a technical issue, that would obviously put a big shadow over the championship.
“So I very much hope for a straight [fight] at the last race, and they will give it their all. Hopefully the double points will not make a difference.
“Nobody likes double points. We are going to discuss that next time around, so it’s probably something we should get rid of next season.”
Rosberg has only won five grands prix in 2014 to Hamilton’s 10, but Wolff insists the German would still make a deserving champion.
“Whoever has the most points at the end of the season will be the worthy champion,” said Wolff.
“You have to be pragmatic. Even though, if it comes down to that situation, we might have a different feeling about it. It is what it is. Whoever wins the championship is going to have his name in the record books, and that’s it.”