Let's Not Belittle The Formula 1 Drivers' Championship

The 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix could be a Grand Prix of firsts for the Mercedes drivers. Lewis Hamilton could win his first-ever Brazilian Grand Prix OR Nico Rosberg could win his first-ever Formula 1 Drivers' Championship. Let's hope the 'best driver' wins. In which case, shouldn't it then be Fernando Alonso?

We're loving the suspense and surprise of title fight this season and don't mind it being taken forward to Abu Dhabi. After all, there's finally some surprise in the sport other than Max Verstappen! Unless, of course, you're Robbie Williams.

While Abu Dhabi pays millions hoping to host a 'title decider', Brazil has done so 6 times in our recent memory. By the way, the 2012 edition of the race was also Mclaren and Jenson Button's last win. What are the bets we could be repeating this statistic for Mclaren this time, next year?

As we look forward to Interlagos, we share our vivid memories of a circuit that made Timo Glock world famous. We also remember a rare and unexpected robbery attempt on Jenson Button, Adrian Newey's Red Bull Racing 'tank' that withstood a bang in 2012 and Schumi helping Baby Schumi to his 3rd world title.

Will Nico Rosberg be able to race in Brazil without thinking of the Drivers' Championship? He's made the 'race-by-race' approach work, till date. We're sure that mind games will be at their absolute best. And as tough as it will ever be, we try and settle this whole 'Does Nico Rosberg deserve the Drivers' Championship?' debate. Let's remember, by saying that someone was 'lucky' to win a Formula 1 Drivers' Championship, that too in its longest season ever, might be belittling the title in itself!

As for Lewis Hamilton, we hope he's learning lessons from Serena Williams on how to thwart a 'match point'. Actually, who better than Williams to teach him.

Gravel traps, yes or no? Formula 1 has senseless penalties. It would be good to see some sensible ones applied too, especially for exceeding track limits. All sports have one. In fact, the one sport that doesn't is World Wrestling Entertainment.

And how on earth did Sebastian Vettel go scot free after his expletive laden radio message in Mexico? It is one thing to not respect competitors, but it is another to not respect the Race Director. The least they should've done was strip him of his 'Driver of the Day' award. But the FIA isn't in setting examples, so we shouldn't be surprised.

Fernando Alonso has called the current Formula 1 as Formula 1/2 (or Formula 0.5)! This is probably better than being classified as GP2. If Ross Brawn is indeed interested in working on the long term plans for the sport, it should include a robust part that should have the best drivers on the grid race in Formula 1 cars and not Formula 0.5!

Finally, just when we thought that almost no one would be been interested in learning from Formula 1, an Olympic Champion has indicated how skiing should use Formula 1 qualifying system at their World Cups. This comes in a year when we almost ditched the only thing that's working well in the sport.

Tune in!

(Season 2016, Episode 37)

The Inside Line F1 Podcast is hosted by Mithila Mehta and Kunal Shah. This Formula One podcast offers a unique humourous view on the sport. Follow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/insidelineonfacebook and on Google+: http://bit.ly/insidelineongoogleplus

Follow on Twitter: Mithila Mehta (http://www.twitter.com/mith_m) and Kunal Shah (http://twitter.com/kunalashah)

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