As critics of Nico Rosberg continually pick holes in his 2016 title bid, despite taking nine victories so far with consistent performances, the pertinent question is would he be a deserving champion?
Achieving eight or more wins in one season is something that has only been done by a world champion in the past, many are quick to pounce on the notable troubles his teammate Lewis Hamilton has been experiencing this season and attribute his current 33 point lead to that fact.
Yet despite there being some truth to that, Would Nico Rosberg would be a deserving champion if, in fact, that is the case come the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi?
A champion by any measure is one of perseverance, determination and skill to achieve the desired goal. You do not often luck into being a Formula One world champion.
Having learnt from his early experiences at Williams, he was able to develop his skills in the midfield. Understanding to take results when they came albeit he threw away a potential victory in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix after crossing the white line on the tricky pit exit.
Switching to Mercedes for 2010 on a three-year deal was a clear sign that the team and Rosberg were aiming for world titles in the future. Rosberg partnered seven-time champion Michael Schumacher in his first three years something that will have no doubt been a true learning experience in dealing with the pressures of such a prestigious team as well as developing the skills in how to develop a car.
It often felt like many looked at Rosberg as a mere number two driver, something he proved wrong during his early Mercedes days by finishing ahead of Schumacher in the championship in all three seasons they were together as teammates.
Yet since 2013, partnering childhood friend and rival Lewis Hamilton, he has still been portrayed in the media as a second class driver quite unfairly.
While it may have taken a lengthy period of time for Rosberg to achieve his first victory in 2012, he has since taken 22 more during a time in a superior Mercedes car, proving that he is not a driver that is second class.
The relationship with Hamilton may have helped in the early stages of their Mercedes partnership when the car was just not quick enough to compete with Red Bull, however, when Mercedes became the dominant force in Formula One in 2014, that swiftly changed.
At the Bahrain Grand Prix that year, we saw an all-time classic dogfight between Rosberg and Hamilton that will live long in the memory, it showed that both drivers were at the edge of pushing each other to the ultimate limits while trying to maintain complete respect for each other.
However, as the season moved onto Hungary and Belgium, Rosberg, through his inexperience in a championship fight, allowed himself to get affected by the fight mentally and eventually lost out through the end of season struggles.
Having been through the championship motions on two occasions with Hamilton taking the spoils each time, Rosberg has now taken the initiative and brought his true A-game definitively prove his critics wrong once and for all and not allow the ghosts of the past to affect his performances.
The Spanish and Austrian Grands Prix earlier this year have shown this, despite making what look to be mistakes that perhaps he shouldn’t have made, he has ensured that he won’t go down without a fight. The mark of a champion is taking the results when you can and settling for consistency when you can’t and since the summer break Rosberg is a reformed man.
While Hamilton may have had some mechanical issues this season, Rosberg has taken full advantage of them, to take the results he has this season have shown that he has what it takes to fight at the top level, to take the good with the bad and best those around him.
So would Rosberg be a deserving champion? Without a shadow of a doubt.
Can he finish the job and prove his doubters wrong? That remains to be seen, however as Murray Walker famously said: “Anything can happen in Formula One and it usually does.”
