The F1 thread

[Rossell]

Max Verdickhead.

Edit: just nabbed a random tweet to show this photo, jeez:

[Wrathbone]

Verstappen whinging about space again is flat out embarrassing this time. It's one of the tightest chicanes in F1 and Hamilton gave what little space he could. As with their last incident, what did Max expect was going to happen? Hamilton was going to vanish? Fucking prat, and a dangerous one now, not befitting a potential world champion.

[Maturin]

What is it now? 3 deaths (arguably) averted due to the halo?

[Wrathbone]

What is it now? 3 deaths (arguably) averted due to the halo?

Easily, probably more.

Watching the replays again, it looks like Hamilton had about half a car width spare on the outside. Even if he'd been on the outside kerb, Verstappen couldn't have gone side by side with him round there.

[Maturin]

Lewis is apparently seeing a specialist about his neck injury. It was causing him more problems a couple of hours after the crash, hopefully it turns out just to be a mild strain or something.

[Raid]

Another dramatic race in a championship that really feels like it's getting dirty now. There was no way Max was going to complete that overtake on the track, I think it's debateable whether Lewis should have left more space as at the point where Lewis turned into the second corner there wasn't anywhere for Max to go - he'd committed to the corner and I'm not convinced he had time to take the escape option over the corner. The stewards have decided Max was at fault and given him a 3 place penalty for the next race, which isn't a decision I really agree with. I would have preferred for this to be seen as a racing incident. Either way, these two drivers just aren't going to back down.

I think this is now the third incident where the Halo has potentially saved the driver's life, although the roll hoop clearly took the brunt of the impact. What I really hated was seeing Max spinning his wheels while his rear tyre was so close to Lewis' head - I'm not sure whether he'd been able to check to make sure it wasn't a danger.

Brilliant stuff from McLaren. They were saying yesterday that there was a chance of them getting Max on the start and then being able to use their second driver to force Max into an unfavourable strategy, and while I'm not sure they did exactly that, they weren't in first and second purely because the championship leaders took each other out. Ricciardo has redeemed himself after a bad start to the year, Norris has shown he can fight at the front, and the team have built a car that can regularly challenge for podiums.

I think Red Bull have decided that it's better to take penalties for overtaking off track than to give places back, it's the second or third time in two weekends that Perez has done it. Don't forget they lost the first race of the year by Max returning a position to Lewis for doing this, and I suppose they think that pulling out a five second gap is easier than finding another overtaking opportunity.

[Drarok]

The stewards have decided Max was at fault and given him a 3 place penalty for the next race, which isn't a decision I really agree with. I would have preferred for this to be seen as a racing incident. Either way, these two drivers just aren't going to back down.

Except for at the start where the same roles were reversed and Hamilton took the escape route, you mean?

[Wrathbone]

The stupid thing is, if Verstappen had an ounce of patience he could held back and got the job done cleanly on any number of laps down the line. Instead he was spitting fire over his poor pitstop and the red mist descended, yet his pace was good enough to negate the gap by the time Hamilton had stopped. He came across as unprofessional yesterday.

[DjchunKfunK]

I didn't watch the race but I don't understand why Verstappan felt he needed to send one up the inside on that corner. From qualifying it seemed like he had the beating of the Mercedes so could have waited for a better opportunity, there was no reason to risk everything on a low percentage move. I think this shows the naivety of him as a driver, he is all out 100% of the time and it is starting to cause issues, he needs to learn that sometimes you need to back off.

[Raid]

The stewards have decided Max was at fault and given him a 3 place penalty for the next race, which isn't a decision I really agree with. I would have preferred for this to be seen as a racing incident. Either way, these two drivers just aren't going to back down.

Except for at the start where the same roles were reversed and Hamilton took the escape route, you mean?

Hamilton locked a brake in that incident, yes he turned away but only after he realised he'd missed the chance.

Lewis has always been willing to bounce off another car to make a move, it was one of the defining features of his competition with Rosberg that Nico would always be the one to back down (and he came off worse whenever he decided to try Hamilton's approach). I reckon Max has decided that he's not going to let that scare him off. How many times have Verstappen and Hamilton collided this year when one could have backed out?

Don't get me wrong, I think Hamilton has both experience and car control in his favour, Verstappen just isn't quite on his level yet, but I can tell he's getting frustrated that his main rival this year is just as aggressive as he is.

[Wrathbone]

I get what you’re saying, and Hamilton has not been blameless throughout the year, but in this instance I don’t know what else he could have realistically done. If watch his onboard (before the camera gets taken out), he’s driving right for the grass at the far side and has to begin his turn, but Max appears beside him.

[eny]

We saw the fine line between the two drivers in this race. Hamilton pushed as far as he could in the first lap, but knew taking a chance too far could remove himself entirely, so backed out. Verstappen, on the other hand, failed to maintain that same reserve and nearly ended Hamilton's career forever, save, thankfully, for that blessed halo. That chicane should not be approached in such a manner as to not have a viable plan-b, and Max needs to have a sense of self-preservation in these instances if he wants to achieve his fullest potential.

[Raid]

Max had two thirds of his car alongside Hamilton's as Hamilton turned into the second corner of the chicane. Max held his ground. Lewis realised he was unlikely to beat Verstappen out of the second corner and doggedly stuck to the racing line, forcing Max onto the sausage kerb which caused the accident. I think Max's move was overconfident but I don't think Lewis was blameless, which is why I'd prefer for it to be called a racing incident.




Max could have conceded and steered onto the kerbs prior to the second corner. Lewis could have conceded and given the Red Bull more room. Instead, both drivers relied on the other backing off, and neither did. If the sausage kerb hadn't been there, I think they'd have scuffed wheels and Max would have been through, and we'd have been talking about what a brilliantly aggressive move it was.

[Snowy]

Lewis has always been willing to bounce off another car to make a move

While it can make for dangerous incidents as we saw this weekend, all the great drivers have that in their arsenal, be it a strength or a flaw. Schumacher used to cause drivers he was coming up behind make mistakes simply because they saw the Red Baron in the mirrors and knew they were in trouble. Senna and Prost the same, happy to get stuck in if it got them the result. No great surprise that it is a trait that Verstappen and Hamilton both share.

Risk to the drivers aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the race, it actually came alive once the two championship rivals took each other out (I also called it as a racing incident, there should be no penalty I don't believe).

[Raid]

Well I'm glad someone agrees with me!

Yeah, two of the greatest champions in the sport won championships by holding their ground and not conceding a corner. I don't think it should be surprising that Hamilton and Verstappen share those qualities - the ability to know you're right and the other guy is wrong, even when that conflicts with reality, is a key component to some great drivers' psyches.