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| Raikkonen said he had only one good chance at Vettel but went the wrong way under braking. |
Forgive the delay with the summary but I was racing myself this past week rather than sitting on a couch watching the GP. I did see the race eventually and, like the one before it, it was a great one.
Kimi's performance, eleventh to second must have certainly made Grandpa Schumi grumpy. No wonder he was cursing his Pirelli's, in the third year of his comeback and he has yet to score a podium while Mr, Sleep/Ice Cream/Drive scored on on his fourth race. He pushed Vettel to the point where RBR were worried he had burned too much fuel to meet minimum weight and had him stop after the flag.
At the time I thought he should have been penalized for his moves on Hamilton and Alonso but looking over the replays I think the stewards got it... almost right. The rules state you can make one defensive move and then a second to get back on the racing line. It is only on this second move that you need to leave room, Rosberg certainly did that, in both cases, with Hamilton and with Alonso. Dickish move but legal
Where the stewards did go wrong perhaps is that drivers are specifically forbidden to pass outside the confines of the track, Hamilton should have ducked back if he could or lifted instead he passed Rosberg with four wheels off the track surface. He's quite lucky to escape a penalty from the stewards on top of Mclaren's self inflicted ones on pit lane.
China was all Mercedes but Bahrain was totally Renault, how great is this season so far?
Executive Summary after the jump...
AC,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the executive summary. Great stuff as always.
Best,
RDS
yeah Hamilton definitely should have been penalised for that move. Rosberg was fully legal, aggressive but legal. Can't expect him just to let Hamilton by. As the leader, he can decide what line to take. He chose maximum inside. Hamilton chose off the track.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree that it was Hamilton that should have been penalized. Rosberg was racing hard but within the rules. Most fanboys of course cried against Rosberg but within racing conventions the decision of the stewards was spot on.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that you are calling this team "Renault" AC, because technically the French automaker is just an engine supplier. And now that the sponsorship contract with Lotus has come to an end, they also have nothing to do with Lotus as well (exept that they can still carry their name until 2015 or something like that..).
ReplyDeleteAnd now that the team is making very strong results and might very possibly win races in the future under the "Lotus" name, don't you guys think that Lotus should keep supporting the team for their own good? Am i misinterpreting the situation?
By Renault, I meant the R27 engine which powers RBR and "Lotus". I just saw that Genii might be looking to buy Lotus cars, which would make sense. I would not be totally surprised if then at some point it becomes another "French" team what with the return of the French GP. I would love to see Matra back as a name. Maybe they can paint them blue and white with day-glo red and green noses!
Deletea fantastic season . . . no doubt! Go Kimi
ReplyDeleteGreat race and great summary as usual. I'm very surprised to see that Hamilton did not receive a penalty for overtaking with all FOUR wheels off the circuit. I'm can recall many instances where driver's incurred a penalty for having much less of their cars off the circuit during an overtake.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised to see no mention of Di Resta here. Once again, Paul was the best of Di Resta.
Thank you for the video. Too bad we didn't get some of Kimi's post race interview! Always entertaining.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Lotus did not tell Kimi to bring it home at the end. Kind of like Sauber before: that double podium is worth a fortune to them.
DeleteExcellent writeup Andrea, as always. Just a detail, though: the Renault engine is called RS27 (as in Renault Sport). ;-)
ReplyDeleteTechnically, didn't Hamilton pass Rosberg after he came back on the track? Maybe that's why the stewards didn't penalize him?
ReplyDeleteThe counter argument to that would be that he would never have been able to complete that move had he not been 4 off?
DeleteIt does not matter that the pass was not at the moment he was off line. It’s no different than a racer cutting a chicane to keep the momentum needed make to pass on track immediately after the chicane. Not legal. Hamilton got lucky, that’s part of racing.
DeleteNico didn't get a penalty because by the letter of the law he didn't break any rules. Equally, by the letter of the law Lewis didn't break any rules either. Lewis' move wasn't even investigated by the stewards. Lewis took a went round the outside of Nico on a dirty run off area so he had no advantage anyway.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying Hamilton SHOULD have been penalized necessarily but, as it happened before with him, if there had been a wall (or grass) at the edge of the track, he would not have been able to complete that pass, period.
DeleteIsn't it more of a comment about the track layout & design than Lewis. Lewis has just taken advantage of what is available to him in taking evasive action. Loads of drivers took advantage of concrete run off areas in free practice to find the limits of their car. If there had been a wall, or grass, or gravel they would not have been able to get that advantage.
DeleteAnon, what are you on? Say the first corner at Bahrain, it's almost a hairpin. What if there was an escape road down the inside that let you completely cut the first corner. Would you also accept that people can use that escape road to cut the first corner and pass cars in the process during the race because it part of the "track layout & design"? No, it would be unfair. Is there a difference between using this escape road during the race or qualifying, and using it in practice? Yes, lap time matters in the race and qualy, it doesn't in practice.
DeleteFernando Alonso is my favourite driver, however in this situation I know he was wrong and I can accept that and admit it. Why is it that 90% of Hamilton fans on the internet just can't accept that Hamilton occasionally makes mistakes and admit it when it happens. In this situation, Hamilton was 110% in the wrong and it should be clear as day to anyone with clear knowledge of racing and I can't believe he wasn't penalised for it. I sets a horrible precedent.
i have to disagree with you, i dont think stewards got it right, if you see their statement after the investigation, one of the things they've said is "it is difficult judge, due to speed differential etc..." , obviously he did same thing to alonso second time around. that is very dangerous move, at those speeds its difficult to change line that close behind.
ReplyDeleteI was going by what the rules, new ones passed this year, say. if you follow those buy what could be observed on TV, Rosberg did it right
DeleteWell done...but where are the K.Raikkonen overtakes?? He overtook Massa,Button,Alonso,Webber and Grosjean.None included.Not good.
ReplyDeleteWhat have you guys got against Lewis? He is doing what he didn't do last year, driving with restraint: Look at his 3rd places so far. One incident and you jump on him. Give him a break, enjoy his talent and give him a chance to mature. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteWell number 1 thing that I have against Lewis is that he passes people outside the boundaries of the track, and thus makes illegal passes and therefore technically cheats. Not on purpose of course, but any time you break a rule in F1 it is technically cheating and Lewis seems to do a lot of it (hence all the penalties).
Delete"...and give him a chance to mature."
ReplyDeleteHe has been maturing for six years now. Just putting that out there.
Thank you AC for your work putting the summaries together. <3
Go Kimi!!