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The moment of madness, the moment very esque of Michael Schumacher and there’s been plenty of 50/50 ones too. Over the years we’ve seen drivers go for gaps that either didn’t quite exist or were closed quickly resulting in accidents. These tend to be 50/50 on racing incidents or the driver penalised for ramming another driver.
There have been moments where the driver has purposely tried to take out another car or give them a knock. This time around there was no doubt Sebastian Vettel had purposely tried to knock Lewis. It’s an incredibly silly thing to do because it can put you both out. We’ve seen these cars take far less knocks that puts them out. Vettel was very lucky that Lewis didn’t suffer a DNF because of it. If he had I wouldn’t have any sympathy for him being banned for 1-3 races for taking another driver out. You can’t do it.
To make matters worse Sebastian acted like he did nothing. That’s right – nothing. Every time some one talked/asked about that collision Vettels response was “the one where Lewis slowed down”. This means he was in complete denial about it. Maybe his state of mind isn’t in a happy place. Maybe there’s tension at Ferrari. We never know the full story till the end of the season when contracts are renewed or not.
If Seb had simply said “I’m sorry, I was angry because I strongly believe Lewis break tested me to freak me out. It was a moment of madness I was pumped for the race and wanted to get going. All I can say is I’m sorry.”
On that I think the world would have gone silent. I’m a fan of his because he loves British comedys and I love his sense of humour. He’s a talented young guy and just like Lewis, just like Alonso and all the other great champions – when pressure hits.. when things don’t go so well they react VERY badly. Almost in an act of desperation.
This moment makes me think that things are not perfect in
Team Ferrari. For two races now Ferrari
have dropped in the pace and now it’s looking like race pace is a 3 horse race
with Merc slightly ahead on qualifying and races as well. With RBR fast approaching on race day. What does this mean? It means the title is still not resolved and
it’s anyone’s guess who wins it. If
Lewis suffers a bit of bad luck Bottas can quickly hit the points. Likewise for Seb.
Seb must know this is the best chance Ferrari have had for
years to win the title. No longer do
they need to rely on consistency but they can win although that’s two races now
it’s changed. Ferrari can lose.
Lewis Did Not Break Test
Argue all you want.
We’ve all used the breaks, we’ve all gone racing in some form – we know
what break testing is. It’s where you
hit the breaks to scare the driver behind – that’s right it’s where you USE THE
BREAKS. It’s not called break testing
for a reason. Lewis did not use his
breaks this is fact. Unless the data
Merc/FIA have is false. If it is false –
Merc deserve to be banned a few races and perhaps docked points for falsifying
data.
Let’s face it though – the onboard camera showed two
things. Lewis slowed down and Vettel
speeds up when leaving the corner.
Every driver knows what happens when the safety car comes
in. The teams relay this information to
the drivers. This means a few things: Prepare to get the race back under way. Do not over take till the safety car
line. Be prepared for the pack to be
bunched up and SLOWED DOWN. The lead
driver effectively becomes the safety car.
The lead driver dictates the pace but is NOT allowed to speed up and
break dangerously.
So why is it that one driver failed this – Vettel. Why is that an experienced 4 time world
champion failed this moment – madness? Mindset? Issues at Team Ferrari? We will
never know. He denied all this.
As a Lewis Hamilton fan if that was my driver.. I’d be
furious. It reminds me when Lewis
refused a team order to move over for Fernando so he could complete his
qualifying lap. What was he thinking? It also reminded me of the moment he and team
Mclaren lied about overtaking under the safety car. Technically Mclaren did nothing wrong but
because they lied about the entire thing…
it became a mess. What was
Mclaren and Lewis thinking?
There’s also this:
The clear refusal to talk about that incident. Every time Vettel is asked about the contact he immediately reverts to “break test”. No Sebastian that’s not the question and stop avoiding it. He’s taking a clear lack of responsibility here in fact he’s also changing the wording to his “break test” to more like “well err I’m sure he didn’t do it on purpose”. So either HE DID break test you. Again another question came on about the contact 2nd time – “I waved my hand…. “
No mater which way you put it. He refuses to talk about THAT collision. He knows he did wrong and he knows it’s a serious thing. On this matter I really can’t feel for Sebastian. He’s seen the footage and probably is starting to realise that Lewis may not have break tested him but maybe Lewis wasn’t being very smart in to doing it right after the corner?
Funny isn’t it.
The British Press
I’ve often talked about the press. And I see silly comments like “If that was a
British driver that did it.. it would be all quiet”. WRONG.
The British press made huge news out of Lewis being pulled
over by the police in Australia. Mark
Webber’s response was “Typical nanny state” about his home land. Yet the British press went on about this for
24 hours. About how his car was
impounded, picture of him in the back seats of the police car. All for a bit of fun on the road which most
people do in nice cars. To be fair – I
gave no sympathy to Lewis.
All that for a simple thing with Lewis Hamilton? What about when he split from his father being his agent? This hit the news. What about when his father crashed his car? This hit the news. Every incident that occurred including the LieGate – it hit the news.
So rightly so Vettel purposely ramming another driver has hit the news. Like it or not – F1 and especially Lewis Hamilton is news. Good or bad.
People who claim they only go after non British are full of rubbish.
The overall drivers tend to not take the blame during the emotional period. They do however tend to admit their mistakes after seeing the footage. However again this time around Vettel still refuses to admit responsibility. How do you define that? This isn’t a racing incident where a driver has gone for a gap which got closed. This isn’t a moment where Lewis/Seb turned in to each other.
This is a bit of a reminder of the Vettel/Webber where by the camera you could see which driver slightly turned in to the other – Vettel. Although this time around it was not at high speed and the turning was much clearer and much sharper. Vettel had turned in to Lewis. No Ifs, No Buts and no data required. It showed it on both onboard cameras, from the front, the back and even on board with Bottas. Vettel had turned in to another driver.
The sad thing is – I don’t see this being the end. I can see something happen – there’s already talk about an investigation. The punishment wasn’t good enough but I wouldn’t punish him any more. Instead I would look at the Stewards rules. If a driver is intentionally hitting another one (where there’s no doubt) that driver should be black flagged. This wasn’t an overtaking moment. It wasn’t a fight for a corner it was a blatant turn in to the driver to hit the car not to gain a position. Remember MSC turning to JV? That was a blatant – I’m going to hit you.
You can’t do that in 2017 Formula One. The whole world is watching you. I will say this though it does show a sheer lack of consistency in the fans. Those who couldn’t defend their driver instead lashed out at another. It’s pathetic. If that was my driver I’d be embarrassed.. shocked and disgusted. Like I was as a Mclaren fan over the SpyGate and LieGate. What penalty did Lewis suffer over a pathetic little lie. Everyone went mad over a Lie which they didn’t need to do. Instead this caused a bigger storm than what we’ve seen over the RamGate. Mclaren faced a suspended 3 race ban over the mess. A simple lie which was an honest mistake on track which then became a constant lie. A man lost his job at Mclaren. The press, whiting and the FIA went mad.
You know if I drove up to a colleague and rammed their car or lied to my boss – which was the most punishing crime? There’s no comparison. I’d most likely be facing the full force of the law for driving dangerously.
This is what I find most ridiculous.
Update: For those who want to continue whining about “opinions” over facts. Just remember if Lewis Hamilton had break tested – he’d be rightly punished. Instead there is no investigation.
It appears there’s now a video that shows both restarts controlled by Lewis with Seb behind. Both videos showed Lewis slow down at that corner but the 2nd time Seb was much closer. It appears Seb really did accelerate in to Lewis. I’d say an honest mistake that happens.
See the video – it also shows the accident which again no
one can deny it was done by purpose.
The data was released to the FIA. Either the FIA are corrupt and are protecting
Lewis Hamilton – In which case we’re talking about something bigger than the
SpyGate saga or Lewis is innocent.
“Erratic” It’s not erratic to slow down ready for the
restart.
Every argument/opinion I’ve witnessed has presented nothing
new or remotely plausible. The FIA have
access to the cars data something that is a must have. Any alterations of that data or miss-leading
(as we witnessed with the LieGate) – receives a harsh punishment. In fact they’ve presented nothing new to the
argument just “Lewis break tested.. okay he didn’t but he drove erratically”…
he drove exactly how every safety car start has been. Slowed down through normal means not breaking. Something he has been slapped for before –
which rightly so shouldn’t do.
