Not thinking like a champion.
F1 Racing News | Racer.com - F1: Wehrlein would be happy to stay at Manor

 

 

Wrong. Williams + Newey hated Senna, so they, you know, got rid of him. The Italians fought for justice.

 

Allan McNish on Mexico.
Lewis Hamilton's world title fortune could turn around at Brazilian GP - BBC Sport

Hamilton's first-lap incident

Many people - including Verstappen himself - have pointed out what they see as a contradiction between the fact that race-winner Hamilton did not receive a penalty for cutting across the grass at Turns One and Two on the first lap, and that Verstappen did for doing it later in the race.

I have been an official driver steward at a number of grands prix. And the way the rules are operated - and all the drivers and teams know about this - there was no contradiction.

Firstly, the start and first lap are treated differently from the rest of the race. That's not to say you can get away with anything - as was proved when Carlos Sainz was penalised for pushing Fernando Alonso on to the grass - dirty driving is still dirty driving and will be punished.

But little incidents, details of driving, are tolerated that would not be during the main part of the race, simply because it's an inevitably more hectic environment with so many cars together at the same time.

On the first lap, Hamilton locked a wheel and ran wide at Turn One. He cut across the grass and rejoined in Turn Two.

There were several reasons why he was not given a penalty: it was the first lap, when there is more latitude; he was not fighting with anyone - he was clearly in the lead and the battle was for second behind him; and he lifted off as soon as he rejoined the track.

That was quick and clear thinking from Hamilton and it was crucial because the stewards work on the basis of a rule that dictates a driver must not gain a "lasting advantage" by going off the track.

The lock-up and flat spot meant Hamilton ended up in a risky situation - it means big vibrations that not only shake the driver around but also risk breaking the suspension.

This famously happened to Kimi Raikkonen at the Nurburgring in 2005. He led much of the way, ran a long time on a tyre with a flat-spot on it, and the suspension shattered on the very last lap of the race.

Verstappen v Vettel at Turn One

Verstappen fitted his medium tyres to take him to the end of the race on lap 12, whereas Vettel did not stop until lap 33 - so had tyres with 21 laps less wear on them.

Coming up behind them was Ricciardo, who fitted new soft tyres on lap 51, with only 20 laps to go.

On old medium tyres, it is easier to lose tyre temperature on long straights, which was almost certainly a contributing factor to Verstappen locking up at the start of lap 68.

He went off the track and across the grass within half a metre or so of the line Hamilton had been on at the start.

Could he have got the car back on to the track? Almost certainly. But he would have lost at least one position to Vettel and probably another to Ricciardo as well.

The problem was that going across the grass meant he gained and kept a lasting advantage as opposed to losing one. Hence the penalty.

The Vettel v Ricciardo incident at Turn Three

Verstappen's refusal to give the place to Vettel set up Ricciardo's attack on the German on the penultimate lap, as the Ferrari was being held back to the Dutchman's pace.

Ricciardo got a good run on Vettel out of Turn Two and I was surprised that Vettel did not move to the inside earlier to cover and try to send him around the outside - especially as he said afterwards he knows Ricciardo will often have an "optimistic" attempt, without question or hesitancy.

That gave Ricciardo a chance to have a go down the inside and he went for it at the exact moment they were coming into the braking area.

Vettel started to close the space in the braking area. This is something that has been discussed at a lot of drivers' briefings this season, predominantly in the context of Verstappen's driving.

A new clarification was brought out at the US Grand Prix, the week before Mexico, spelling out what was acceptable in this area.

The FIA said drivers' could not make any change in direction in the braking area that led to another driver having to take evasive action.

Why is this area so sensitive? Think back to the Australian Grand Prix at the start of the season. There, owing to a misunderstanding in the braking area, Fernando Alonso's McLaren was launched over Esteban Gutierrez's Haas into an almighty accident.
Those are the risks of moving in the braking area.So it was hardly surprising that the move was investigated and Vettel ended up being penalised.The stewards did well to give Verstappen his penalty early enough before the podium ceremony; it was just a shame they could not manage that in time to get Ricciardo up on to the podium.

 

One knock against that is how poorly Luca Badoer did in 2009. He drove in the V10 era and was thorougly outclassed by the entire field during his short stint.

 

he was a mess. no racecraft, thrown in with little preparation. not quite a fair comparison.

 

 

I was disappointed in Salo's and Fisichella's Ferrari stints.

 

I thought they did pretty well. Fisi's dream to drive for Ferrari came true and he is a Ferrari driver today. Salo proved he didn't suck and earned a win that he gave to Eddie.

 

This. Salo got 2 podiums out of it (4th was his best non-Ferrari result).

 

Those were his only points that year. I read an article how he was more comfortable in low downforce races because that's how he raced as a backmarker. That's why he was podiumed at Hock and Monza.

 

source

 

here it is!

 

la

 

well la de frickin source

 

"chicane" is not a very original name for a corner. I'm not impressed SPA

 

agreed. bring back bus stop

 

hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng

 

We have liftoff

 

Gerhard Berger pronounces it "chicken".

 

I actually yelled "Nooooooooo!" at the telly.

 

home improvement thread misses you.

 

that's ok i pronounce his name "Burger"

 

what a curious thing

honda "adventure" scooter

 

Is that not how you pronounce it?