BIG DEBATE

Do we miss Nico and Jenson?

I’M SURPRISING MYSELF HERE: I never expected to type the words ‘I miss Nico Rosberg.’ And I wouldn’t be doing it now, if it wasn’t for one key thing: he’s the current Formula 1 world champion and that means he should be on the grid.

As a neutral journalist, my opinion of Nico never mattered, so I kept it to myself. But for the purposes of this new feature, I’ll ’fess up: I thought he was uninspiring. And then to quit just a week after achieving his life’s dream and to walk away from one of the greatest teams in Formula 1 history – what a cop-out. I was disappointed in him.

Still, he remains a worthy world champion and, in the context of what he achieved last year, he’s a loss to the sport. In Lewis Hamilton, Rosberg took on and beat one of the fastest racing drivers we’ve ever seen – and he’s also clearly a good and decent man.

Past champions, such as James Hunt, have stated that they drove better once they’d won a title. I’d have been fascinated to see what effect winning the title would have had on Rosberg in 2017. Sure, taking on and beating Hamilton in the same team must be exhausting – but if he’d done it once, why couldn’t he have done it again, riding on the wave of such a confidence boost?

It’s a shame we’ll never see the full picture and find out exactly what Nico was really made of. Quitting suggests to me the answer to that is ‘not very much’ – which is probably unfair.

As for Jenson Button, he’s missed because there’s a dearth of big characters in Formula 1 – and I still think he had a couple of years left in him in terms of decent form. It would be a stretch to say Button was an F1 ‘great’, but he was something of an artist: fast, smooth, combative. And so easy to like out of the car, too. He is certainly F1’s loss.

Then again, given the ongoing state of Mclaren-honda’s unhappy partnership I’d be surprised if he’s had a moment’s regret.

THIS IS HOW MUCH I missed Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button over the Australian GP weekend: as I watched Lewis Hamilton set pole in his Mercedes on Saturday, I thought I was looking at the reigning champion. As I watched Seb Vettel win with aggression and panache on Sunday, I was transported back five years to a time when all he had to do was turn up to win. With these two peaking, a natural order seemed to be in place. Bluntly, I came to the conclusion that I missed JB and Nico not at all.

This is no comment on the characters of these two fine champions, for Nico has one of the brightest minds ever to have existed within the F1 driver bubble, and his sharp wits are a loss. Button, meanwhile, is one of those Labrador-like guys who more often than not brought the sunshine with him and delivered any number of feel-good stories over the years.

But both, for different reasons, were ready to leave at the end of 2016, and if their respective Twitter outputs are anything to go by, they’re happier for it. Button’s feed is now ‘Triathlon World’ as he pursues his competitive ambitions in a different arena; Rosberg’s is deliriously domesticated as he posts shots of cosy Sunday mornings, feet up, watching the race from his sofa, wife and daughter nestling alongside him.

These men, both with long and distinguished F1 careers, were ready for something new and I salute them for having the courage of their convictions. They have made way for young guns such as Stoffel Vandoorne, Antonio Giovinazzi and Lance Stroll, who have their own stories to write. F1 is no place for competitors who sense a dimming of the fire in their belly, so props to Button and Rosberg for acknowledging their instinct and letting us remember them at their best.