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I think Hamilton has some decent grounds for being a drama queen about tyres...
Ah, I hadn't seen any pictures.
Fair point
Those look like inters, not mediums. He was on mediums yesterday I think, so either wow that’s impressive or umm that’s the wrong photo.
Edit: And that’s a Maclaren so ignore what I was saying.
Thats when he put it into the gravel in the pit lane at Shanghai. I believe Rich was just illustrating why Hamilton might be very, very careful on dodgy tyres
every Lewis win is either the hardest of his life or the best of his career - getting bored with everything he says post race now - its like its got to be some mega thing on how "he" has won it every bloody race.
can we please have Kimi in that seat next year 😉
Lewis being a drama queen (if that’s an allowed expression) about tyres was a bit of a bore but he’s done it before and no doubt will again.
Well, he’s the one driving a go kart at the very edge and at amazing speeds between two metal barriers having to make split milli second decisions for 2 hours, I suspect the last thing he wants when putting his own safety and ambition on the line is to look out the front and see his tyres wearing thin.
Also to address the post raise comments; not only is he full of adrenaline he looked tired These guys are fit as ****, experienced at this level of effort yet mentally and physically having to deal with the above whilst being cm’s away from a chasing bull in a china shop must be a very difficult mental challenge. I remember seeing mansell practically pass out after one of the races, after he won with comments like blurred vision and loss of feeling in his forearms due to a vibration.
Less we forget this is not a 30mph cruise control effort to Homebase on a Sunday.
As Kryton said, plus the vastly increased use of team radio these days might also be showing us the whinges that always used to happen BITD.
I mean, can you imagine Mansell NOT whinging about tyres? The man is a born racer, no doubt, but he's also a Brummie so... 😉
The Monaco gp where he chased down Senna was one where he had to be lifted from the car IIRC. Not sure if he made the podium as he was in the med centre.
When you've won so many races, it must be difficult to find something new and interesting to say at the post-race press conference, particularly when the race itself is a snooze fest (not that yesterday's race was especially dull...)
No win situation. Either he says nothing and is accused of having 'no personally' (whatever that means) or he tries to explain how he feels, and people moan about that as well.
No win situation. Either he says nothing and is accused of having ‘no personally’ (whatever that means) or he tries to explain how he feels, and people moan about that as well.
Same with post-race cycling interviews. The riders are knackered, they've got a long transfer ahead of them, they just want some food and a lie-down and they've got the same half-dozen versions of the same questions being put to them every day.
You can pretty much make your own interview answers:
Yes, I had good legs today / today I did not have good legs
The team is very strong and helped me immensely / the team is suffering a bit and I was on my own for a while...
It's literally just copy / paste answers.
Tyres, team strategy, some basics about the track coupled with a few adjectives - super-tough, challenging, fun, awesome; select your adjective from this helpful list.
Escrs, I do like that video
All that stuff about tyres was a bluff. They were ****ed but he knows you cant overtake round that track...
Just a thought, had either of the trio behind Hamilton not pitted during the safety car period could they have built up enough of a gap to pit and emerge in front while Hamilton was lapping up to 3 seconds slower than the ultimate pace whilst protecting his medium tires?
don't think so, Hamilton's softs we're gone and was going to be pitting pretty soon anyway so you would have cars queuing behind you and the safty car on fresh rubber and a compressed pack so no space to come out into when you need to pit in 5 laps time. You could end up out of the points altogether.
I think one of the considerations in giving LH the mediums was that he pitted first and didn't know what tyres the others would fit. If the others had fitted mediums, then Merc were worried that he would be vulnerable at the restart if he was on hards. I assume that similar considerations would have applied about not pitting. Yes, they would have track position, but they'd have LH right behind them on fresh tyres. They wouldn't have known at that point what tyres Merc were going to fit, so they had no way of knowing that LH would have to nurse his tyres. Not pitting would then have pretty much been throwing away a free pitstop
Gasley went to lap 27 on the same C5 compound and Grosjean to lap 50.
Hindsight aside regarding the medium tires needing treated with kid gloves, I'm not entirely convinced that someone, probably Verstappen, could have stayed out and made a charge in clean air over the next 10 to 15 laps and built up the required 20/22 seconds for a pit stop.
Haas have removed the Whyte logo for Canada link
Confirmed with a very considered and humble statement "We have asked our partners, HaasF1Team, to remove the stag element from the car this weekend. Whilst we own the stag trademarks and registrations worldwide Inc Canada we don't want any media circus for the team whilst we contest this baseless case with Whyte Bikes and win,"
baseless
mfw
Mercedes new engine seems to be working well - nearly a second clear of the rest of the field. Eeek!
TOP trolling by Romain there.
Honestly, not even Nelson Piquet would've had the balls to do that.
Mercedes new engine seems to be working well
well apart from the low fuel pressure causing a miss-fire on Bottas's car
I bet that Charles Leclerk is properly fired up after Monaco. He's always been a fantastic ambassador for the sport, but at Monaco he was driving with a point to prove to the team and in doing so he didn't just blow his own race. Let's not forget that he's in his second season in F1 and has only a handful of races with a top team. That's something you'd have expected from Gilles Villeneuve at the height of his career with a reputation to fall back on.
Canada is a power track - while the Mercs seem depressingly quick, there's definitely a redemptive podium for Leclerk in the offering. I'd like to see him finish well.
Urgh. I see finger boy is back ☝🏻
I’m hoping it’ll make for a more exciting race, but please, anyone bar him for the win.
Vettel will bottle it as usual or Ferrari will destroy both their drivers races with questionable strategy
Urgh. I see finger boy is back
Yes but, Lewis seems bizarrely happy and smug. I have a feeling they think its a one lap wonder and the race distance will undo the Ferrari - on the grand an unlikely event that rocket dog is wrong...
Worthy of a 5 second penalty?
Dunno.
I’m no Vettel fan but that’s a tad harsh for me, fighting the car coming off the grass.
They needed something to spice it up ..geez why not let the racing be done on the track.
The stewards look like a few plums at the moment and its not racing anymore
I wonder if Hamilton will slow down to more than 5s at the end? Its a no lose situation at the moment
or does seb crash into hamilton to make a point
Vettel up to something in the pit lane.
I'm no Vettel fan but that was harsh.
Vettel fuming lol. Listening on 5live and he's storming round everywhere- he changed the 1st & 2nd signs over on the cars !
I think Vettel had more control of the car than he is being credited for, I think it is quite clear he rejoins on the inside line them moves across to block Hamilton. IMO would have preferred it if he had to give the place up and then see if he could regain it before the end.
Vettel is a man baby who always throws tantrums, on and off the track, he has got away with far to much over the years.
all smiles on the podium
Another Vettel mistake under pressure at the end of the day.
Is Vettel sponsored by Sick? Because that is the kind of tantrum I associate with the them.
Another race where pressure gets to him.
great pr for liberty. I wonder what charlie would've done
Says it all when even the competitors feel robbed
looked like he did an extra swerve to the right too
hope he gets an extra fine for the temper tantrums and childish podium obligations
shame leclerc didn't quite get enough of a hurry up near the end to get within 5s
Vettel will bottle it as usual or Ferrari will destroy both their drivers races with questionable strategy
Nearly right!
the stewards may well got the steering input data from vettel during the incident and based the decision on that.
Hes such a baby.
Interesting that the three former F1 drivers on Sky’s coverage didn’t feel it was a penalty.
Also, it might have been a bit childish, but don’t we want to see some passion? It’s the same with all sports people, they get hammered in the media for being boring and then the moment they some some real emotion they get smashed for it. F1 fans treat Senna like a god, but he’s the guy that ran Prost off the road and punched Eddie Irvine post race just because he unlapped himself.
Interesting that the bbc team and the race stewards did think there should be a penalty.
That is interesting, I'll have to give the Chequered Flag podcast a listen to hear their take on it.
https://twitter.com/F1/status/1137817877032132608
Link to the incident.
Having watched that a few times its hard to see if the second steering movement was to correct the slide a dirty tyres or a deliberate move?
The Stewards have the cars telemetry, they aren't just judging on what the incident looks like, they have more data to base their decision on.
I think it looks dodgy, but probably not enough evidence to give a punishment without that extra data.
Every race is one more nail in the coffin!
Looks like the car was pivoting left when he twitched the wheel to the right (to correct). In fact you can pause it on a frame that shows 2 wheels were still off road when he turns to the right. Also doubt he had time to check his mirrors. Would be a super-human block if that was deliberate!
Didn’t need to check his mirrors!
Lewis was up his srse and in going off he’d have lost time/speed. That said i don’t know whether it was deliberate or not
Vettel's rejoined the track as best he could, I'm no fan of his but I'm not sure what else he could have done under the circumstances, his car was bound to slide to the right a bit. Very harsh descion IMHO.
What else could Vettel have done?
Not driven so fast that he couldn't take the corner.
What else could Vettel have done?
Not driven so fast that he couldn’t take the corner.
Probably best he just gets the ford focus out for his Sunday drive in the country then 👍
richmars
Subscriber
What else could Vettel have done?
Not driven so fast that he couldn’t take the corner.
Not the competitive type then I assume?
My opinion is he retained his first place by going off the circuit and re-joining in a questionable manner - I'm 50/50 on wether it was deliberate or not. I think he should have been made to give the position to Lewis and then at least he could battle to regain the lead.
Thing is, finger-boy couldn't take the pressure again - he always loses it when pressured.
Ferrari are lodging an appeal. It is harsh, but personally IMO he can keep his penalty for the subsequent behaviour. There’s passion and there’s childish toys out the pram, he was the latter.
But apparently they can't appeal against that type of decision
The point is LH was pushing him. He made a mistake and shouldn't, I think, benefit from that. Either take the 5 seconds or give up the place as mentioned above.
Tricky one this. Watching it at the time it felt very much as though Vettel was doing a Schumacher - cocked up the race but making sure his rival wasn't able to capitalise. Appreciate that it was a difficult situation but once he starts saying he wasn't sure of where Lewis was makes me think he deliberately made the most of the mistake and ensured that Lewis couldn't get past. He knew exactly where Lewis was as he had been right up his chuff for most of the race and less than a second behind him for several laps before the incident. Rather than a penalty I think he should have been made to give up the track position to Lewis and then let them play out the rest of the race. It will feel harsh but there's also no need to be as petulant as he was. Leclerc, considering what he went through in the previous races has demonstrated better sportsmanship - Vettel could learn a thing or two from him
F1 fans treat Senna like a god, but he’s the guy that ran Prost off the road and punched Eddie Irvine post race just because he unlapped himself
Tbf anybody that punches Eddie Irvine *should* be treated like a God.
Interesting that Ferrari didn’t tell Leclerc about the penalty until after he had finished.
There was a Top Gear interview years ago with Jenson Button where he talked about his championship winning race. Might have been Brazil. Anyway, he went round someone into turn 1 left hand and knew they'd try coming back at him into turn 2 right hand, so he explained how he'd slid the back of his car so that the other guy had to back off.
JC was pretty incredulous but it serves to give an idea of what these guys are capable of. Vettel must have known where Hamilton would be, and therefore rejoined badly, and therefore... etc.
A shame Leclerc wasn't a bit closer, eh? Or was he also told to save tyres, etc etc?
Not driven so fast that he couldn’t take the corner.
Vettel caves under pressure...Again. Is that twice now this year already? I reckon that's what most of the histrionics is covering.
Vettel’s rejoined the track as best he could, I’m no fan of his but I’m not sure what else he could have done under the circumstances, his car was bound to slide to the right a bit. Very harsh descion IMHO.
It may be the case that vettel joined the only way he could. That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth a penalty, if that’s what is laid down in the regulations.
FWIW it looks to me like he used all the road, on purpose. No issue with that, but he did block Lewis, as a result of his own mistake. And the book says that rejoin was not ok.
Not a satisfying way for it to turn out, but in line with the rules as written.
but in line with the rules as written.
What do the rules say? No chance am I digging through a million pages of FIA fun
What do the rules say?
From the BBC:
The rules
A number of F1 regulations apply to this sort of incident. One says: "Should a car leave the track the driver may re-join, this may only be done when it is safe to do so and without gaining any lasting advantage."
The question here being, did Vettel gain a lasting advantage by doing what he did?
Another says: "Manoeuvres liable to hinder other drivers, such as deliberate crowding of a car beyond the edge of the track or any other abnormal change of direction, are strictly prohibited."
And another: "It is not permitted to drive any car unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers at any time."
Response from Hamilton too. Says it was a penalty but he would've probably done the same thing: "What I can say is, if I was in the lead and made a mistake and went wide, I would probably have done the same thing, because it happened so quick and you are just trying to hold your position."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/48577539
They should look at the 'long lap' corner that motogp run. Much better than 5 seconds on the final time, as the on-track race is effectively over with a time penalty.
At Montreal they could easily have one at the hairpin.
Emotively, I agree with what Seb did, keeping his foot in it (Lewis said he would have done the same), to keep racing and maintain position, that's what makes it a knife edge fight and worth watching. I also agree with the Stewards decision; They adhered to the rules and applied them fairly. As such, Toto was right, If we want harder, better racing, the rules/application must change FIRST.
He deserved a penalty, giving up 1st place would have been fair and better for the race. I enjoyed his strop.
At Montreal they could easily have one at the hairpin.
Was thinking of the hairpin as soon as i started reading your post! Wouldn't even need new tarmac, just a marked lane around the outside (ala the power boost in FE)
They adhered to the rules and applied them fairly.
Did they though? Of the rules above it's the second and third ones that would have to apply, which is saying he deliberately blocked...... which isn't 100% clear (to me, and Ferrari by the sound of it, anyway). The first rule couldn't really stick as even if he'd slammed on the brakes he still would've rejoined the track
As someone who has played Gran Turismo Sport online, I fully feel Vettel’s pain...
I’m of the opinion that awarding the penalty was right, but too harsh. They should have made him yield to Lewis, as they would have If he’d have run over a tarmac runoff and not lost a place. That way we’d still have a chance of a race/more overtakes.
tomhoward
Subscriber
As someone who has played Gran Turismo Sport online, I fully feel Vettel’s pain…
0.5s penalty at the moment 😉
I’ve had 3 second penalties for people sending one up the inside, and me having the temerity to not vanish into thin air. Another favourite is someone forgetting where a braking point is, punting me off, resulting in a 2s penalty for me...😡🤬😡🤬
4s the other night for driving in a straight line with some child next to me playing bumper cars 😡
Now managed to get a nice “S” grading for Sportmanship though, so hopefully avoid that nonsense for a while!
Anyway, as we were.....
His mistake stopped Lewis from overtaking, no way should he of kept his place. For fairness though, he should of been told by the stewards to let Lewis through and raced on from there.
Looking back at Monaco, Lewis missed the chicane when fighting with Max. No penalty was applied and Lewis kept the lead despite leaving the track. Personally I don’t care who wins, I just want to see wheel to wheel racing.
Vettel can be a prize dick and I'm not a Ferrari fan, but I think it was just a racing incident under considerable pressure, not a deliberate foul by Vettel. Problem is, if the stewards find that there was an offence, they are required to apply a penalty, with a 5 second penalty the most lenient available. So, yes, Vettel did offend, but the penalty took any drama out of the race finish and the stewards were powerless to apply something a bit more commonsensical that would have kept the race alive. IMO, it's the inflexibility that is the problem, not the penalty itself.
Looking back at Monaco, Lewis missed the chicane when fighting with Max.
In this case, it was the unsafe return to the track that was the offense, not the leaving the track itself.
Different scenarios. In Monaco Lewis missed the chicane to avoid an accident (max flying into a gap that wasn't there) - In Canada Lewis could't do that as the wall was in the way so he had to back off.