Hotschi
Posts: 548
Joined: 1/18/2010
From: Austria
Status: offline
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Rosberg can be blamed for one thing only; switching into the wrong engine mode after the start and thus losing power. His manoeuver to defend his postion, to slamm the door shut to the car trying to overtake him, was perfectly legal according to the rules. It was a brutal manoeuver, yes, but not uncommon in F1, and every race-driver worth his salt would act in the same way. Twice (Japan and Austin) his opponent pulled off the same stunt last year, which was equally perfectly legal (and brutal), and nobody made a fuss. Perhaps because no car was forced out of the race.
Here are two videos of the incident, one an analysis from Sky Sport, the other a top-down view.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWU2DZjDEeM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6vrWWD3ro8
The drivers have to make split-second decisions in F1, and apparently Hamilton's decision was wrong this time. NOT the decision to try to overtake, but his decision to press on regardless - he had the chance to back off before hitting the grass, but he chose not to do so. In backing off, he might have lost a place - temporarily maybe - to an opponent behind him, but at least he would have stayed in the race (and Rosberg too). To quote Massa, Hamilton should have used his brain...
The race stewards, at least this time, issued the only sensible verdict: it was a race incident, no further action, case closed. A nice surprise btw, because these guys are renowned for inconsistency in their decisions. But since in every race there are different guys acting as race stewards, and not all of them are ex-drivers, this inconsistency has to be expected. Whether this is a good thing or not, is another issue.
What I absolutely dislike is Lauda's first interview right after the crash, where he openly condemned Hamilton, in the style of a grumpy old man (oky, that's him, at least he wasn't acting...). Whatever happened, you simply do not thrash your own driver openly and in public, no matter his name! Whether it's Rosberg or Hamilton on the receiving end, is irrelevant. With this, Lauda only adds fuel to the fire. Such statements as Lauda has made should be made internally, without a microphone in sight, period. At least Wolf has learned this lession, for last time when Mercedes had a double-DNF because one of their drivers acted stupid, both Wolf and Laude grilled the guy in public - with the result that the driver being critiziced, afterwards performed like a lame duck and acted more like a apprentice in a large company rather than as a race-driver. No good idea, Lauda!
Okay so we have seen a race where both top competitors for the title didn't finish - what could this mean for the ongoing season? In my view, it definitely means bad news for Lewis Hamilton, less so for Rosberg. Rosberg's misfortune consists only of not having been able to try to prolong his winning series (but who cares about statistics in the long run anyway). Since Rosberg has a comfortable lead in the championship over Hamilton, it means one race less for Lewis to catch up. Add to this that Hamilton has already accumulated 2 warnings this year (a 3rd earns him a penalty), and adding that Hamilton has already spent more of his allowance on engine parts than any other driver, Hamilton's chances to get penalties for the starting grid are adding up. Which isn't very helpful when one has to catch up, and especially in Hamilton's case, who is prone to act imaptient or even stupid when under pressure - and I don't care whther this is washing down well with Hamilton fans.
Who knows, maye we witness some sort of "Hamilton 2011 reloaded" this year - not that this is something to be desired, but the stage is set...
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"A big butcher's bill is not necessarily evidence of good tactics"
- Wavell's reply to Churchill, after the latter complained about faint-heartedness, as he discovered that British casualties in the evacuation from Somaliland had been only 260 men.
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Printable Version
RE: New Grand Prix Season Is Almost Upon Us!!! - 
. Ricciardo also made suitable comment on this post race. But hey, apparently Vettel can moan and sulk and demand that people not be allowed to try and overtake, and that's fine, but Lewis..... 
"Lulu" 
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