NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport

Motorsport: Hamilton favourite for fourth title

By Daily Mail and Reuters
Daily Mail·
17 Mar, 2017 04:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Lewis Hamilton, at the launch of the new Mercedes last month, is favoured to win the drivers' championship. Photo / AP

Lewis Hamilton, at the launch of the new Mercedes last month, is favoured to win the drivers' championship. Photo / AP

Lewis Hamilton goes into this campaign favourite to secure his fourth Formula One world title - although he could face competition from his German rivals.

The Brit narrowly missed out on another world championship last season when Nico Rosberg claimed a maiden triumph before retiring from the sport five days later.

And that victory by Rosberg continued the Great Britain and Germany dominance of F1 world championships in recent years.

In fact, Britain and Germany have provided 28 champions between them, more than any other nation put together.

Britain lead the table with 16 victories while Germany's 12 triumphs puts them above third-place Brazil.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In the past nine years, victories by Rosberg, Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button means only a German or Brit has won the title.

With the new regulations expected to shake the grid up, those stats make for good reading for Vettel, who has been impressive with Ferrari during pre-season testing.

The German star won four successive world titles with Red Bull - with his last triumph coming in 2013 - before he opted to join the famous Italian team in 2015.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Ferrari have been reliable and quick this winter as they bid to bounce back from a disappointing 2016 in which they failed to record a single victory and finished a distant third in the constructors' championship.

Australia and Spain are the two challengers to the Anglo-German dominance, with both nations winning 11 races each over the last decade.

Based on the stats, Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren star Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz Jnr, the Toro Rosso driver, are expected to be Vettel and Hamilton's main challengers this season.

The old ringmaster has gone, pushed aside by Formula One's new American owners, and the marketing men have moved in with a mission to overhaul the circus and give spectators something more modern for their money.

Discover more

Sport|motorsport

SVG off to the USA

15 Mar 08:45 PM
Sport|motorsport

Vinales a title contender

15 Mar 10:12 PM
Sport|motorsport

Record number of entries for Rally Otago

16 Mar 01:01 AM
Sport|motorsport

Paddon, new co-driver to contest Sanremo

16 Mar 01:36 AM

If an era ended in January with the exit of Bernie Ecclestone, following Liberty Media's takeover, the Formula One season starting in Australia marks a bright new dawn.

The cars are faster, wider and more aggressive-looking with fatter tyres and revised aerodynamics but, behind the scenes, more far-reaching changes are being mapped out to drive expansion.

Sean Bratches and Ross Brawn have been appointed managing directors for the commercial and sporting sides respectively, under chairman Chase Carey, and sponsorship and research executives recruited.

The sport is set to accelerate further away from the Ecclestone era, one in which the 86-year-old controlled everything with a famous reluctance to delegate. "There will be a point in the season ... where we start to effectuate change," Bratches said.

"We are going to be very aggressive. We are going to try new things, all in the spirit of better serving Formula One fans."

In the short-term that means building up the race weekend, adding in entertainment and events along the lines of Super Bowl week, exploiting digital platforms and building fan engagement through social media.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Longer term, expect new races - with Las Vegas and other US destination cities high on the wish list - closer ties to promoters and a push to maximise revenue.

"We are not yet really even a player in the digital media landscape, so that's an opportunity for us to add some digital dimension to our traditional broadcast media," Carey said in January.

Brawn, the former Honda and Mercedes boss who won titles with his own BrawnGP team and was previously Ferrari technical director, has a three and five-year plan on the sporting side. It has to be slow burn because of contracts that run to 2020 but he is looking at everything from the format of races to how the sport should look and sound.

Levelling the playing field, allowing smaller teams a chance to compete against wealthy manufacturers, and keeping traditional races on the calendar are high on the agenda.

"I think for sure the philosophy of Liberty and the management now in FOM is to look at things in a more complete way," Brawn said. "Not just the amount of money we can get from a race but what does it offer Formula One, what opportunities?

"Do we become partners in promoting the races? Because up until now most of the consideration has been how much they can pay. And we want to change that balance a bit."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Ensuring the 20 drivers were the best in the world, free of commercial considerations, is another box yet to be ticked and one linked to the thorny subject of a fairer distribution of revenues.

Brawn said that only truly applied to the top half of the grid at present.

"We should have a true meritocracy in Formula One. But you can't do that because some of the teams rely on the commercial input of their drivers, else they wouldn't survive," he said.

"So you have to create a platform where the small teams can survive and then you can start to insist that they pick drivers on merit and not on what money they bring with them."

By the numbers

GB and Germany have provided 28 champions between them, more than any other nation put together.

For the past nine years, only a German or Brit has won the title.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Australia and Spain are the two challengers to the Anglo-German dominance, with both nations winning 11 races each over the last decade - with Daniel Ricciardo, Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz the main challengers.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Sport

America's Cup

Burling confirms move to Team NZ rival

20 Jun 06:35 AM
Warriors

Ex-NRL player says family threatened after 'dog shot' on Warriors fullback

20 Jun 04:58 AM
Premium
Super Rugby

Ranking every Super Rugby final from worst to best

20 Jun 02:00 AM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

Burling confirms move to Team NZ rival

Burling confirms move to Team NZ rival

20 Jun 06:35 AM

The move comes after Burling and Team New Zealand parted ways earlier this year.

Ex-NRL player says family threatened after 'dog shot' on Warriors fullback

Ex-NRL player says family threatened after 'dog shot' on Warriors fullback

20 Jun 04:58 AM
Premium
Ranking every Super Rugby final from worst to best

Ranking every Super Rugby final from worst to best

20 Jun 02:00 AM
Premium
Exclusive: Claims NZR tried to discourage Ardie Savea joining Moana Pasifika

Exclusive: Claims NZR tried to discourage Ardie Savea joining Moana Pasifika

20 Jun 12:01 AM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP