So if Mercedes had ordered Hamilton to retire immediately at the start of the race because they wanted Nico to win, would he have been obligated to obey? And just as importantly, does that decision reflect more poorly on the driver or the team?

I do

Cougar:

Even if it’s true, two prizes are principal among the various awards available in Formula 1: the world drivers’ championship and the world constructors’ championship. The only time one of these should be subordinate is, if ever, to the other. I would be shocked if any participant in or fan of the sport were to…

Firstly, I’ve never seen any evidence this is true.

Here is the difference: how does the team stand to lose substantially by Hamilton slowing the pack? They stand to lose a 1-2 finish, worth little or no money in itself. The constructors’ championship is secure.

Your analogies hinge on a third party intentionally slowing the field, despite having no stake in the outcome. In Hamilton’s case, not only did he have a huge stake in the outcome, but he was leading and had nothing else to race for. In contrast, your analogous scenarios involve a driver forgoing a position just to…

So trying to win is unsporting? He literally had no other path to victory in the championship.

I dunno. Other than Baku, he didn’t have any really bad races. Slightly weak (as in not perfect) ones, sure, but I don’t see anyone else held to the same standard.

It just seems like your opinion is that he should have abandoned the world championship at the start of the race and only competed for the race win (which would not secure the championship). I just don’t understand how that is consistent with the competitive spirit of the sport.

It is a total non-story and the sheer hotness of all the taeks is going to burn down all of Kinja

Do you understand the position Hamilton was in going into the race? He couldn’t battle Romberg for the championship because the only way he could win was if Rosberg finished off the podium. Hamilton couldn’t personally occupy the whole podium so he tried to bring Red Bull and Ferrari into play to compete for podium…

Yeah, when he got out of his car in Malaysia and set his own engine on fire I thought, well that’s it; Lewis is throwing his championship away.

What’s specifically unsportsmanlike about it? His only recourse from the lead was to put the Red Bull and Ferrari cars into play, which he did. He made no dangerous maneuvers, used no illegal tactics.

This is totally unrelated. You’re criticizing a tactic by speculating on a completely different scenario?

Ohio State obviously should be in, but the Big 10 champion (which will not be Ohio State) will also have a reasonable argument for being in. I’m not sure I know the right answer.

The playoffs have existed for 2 years and half of those years the 1 seeded SEC team lost to a 4 seed in the first round.

Wins are the initial tiebreaker

This CFP top 4 will be a shitshow.

Double file restarts in NASCAR on road courses have some tendency to be messy, and with open wheels there is no chance F1 can tolerate nearly as much contact.