Formula1 Talk

[Beardroid91]

vettel should get DQ'd !!!
first of all Hamy was the pacesetter behind the safetycar,
so vettel should've kept more distance !!!
and then that idiot gets so pissed he INTENTIONALY crashes into Hamy
(possibly even passing him, with is not alowed)
and then he falls out of the sky for why he gets a (WAY to light) 10 sec penalty ???

and all those probs with Max's car need some SERIOUS investigation !!!

Biased much ??

Vettel got 10 sec stop 'n go and after the race 3 penalty points on his race licence, so a few more point and he gets disqualified for a race.

But if you look past you biased feelings and look at it again, then Hamilton braked abit more than expected on the strait, just a shame Hamilton didn't get a puncture for doing it, but oh well one can hope he does next time

But who cares nothing changed, and Hamilton should have been strapped in better to begin with. Plus you don't have to look far back to see the crap Senna pulled when he raced, so feelings are part of racing.

[MadManCK]

Maybe the time penalty was just 10 sec in the "spirit of the game". After all it was a reaction to Lewis' brake test. But Vettel does exactly the same when he leads the pack. So his reaction, slamming on purpose into Lewis was uncanned for. It could have ended both their races.

The 3 point penalty underlines that. So the mild penalty during the race was followed up with a more serious license warning.

After the Red Bull from Max stalled again, i immediately thought of foul play. Might not be the case. But anyhow, the responsible mechanics should be replaced in Max' side of the pit box. Horner has to take care of that. Especially if they want to keep Verstappen in their team.

Ricciardo was a very lucky winner. But sometimes you need luck to perform. Previous podium places were also handed to him. Being there at the right time and right moment is also a quality in racing. A good team tactic helped him claiming an unexpected win.

The quarrel between Ocon and Perez will continue also. Force India was in scoring position.

Next to Lance Stroll his first podium, another highlight was Fernando Alonso scoring his first points of the season.

The drivers comments will be good to read this week.

[MadManCK]

According to myself, Red Bull has not finished with 2 cars in a single race this year. One car makes it to a scoring position, where the other drops out of the race. That cycle has to stop.

Even McLaren has a better track record, lol. They made more miles as a team.

[MadManCK]

Sebastian Vettels ridiculous action against Hamilton (deliberately causing a collision) might bite him in the tail.
FIA Boss Jean Todt wants him to appear before the FIA court to explain his actions. This might lead to an immediate ban for at least one race.

I think i agree with Todt for two reasons;

1. Vettel did not show any remorse or was in denial.
2. His actions set a wrong example for the sport in general.

Obviously Todt was not amused by the just 10 sec stop and go, followed by the 3 points penalty on Vettels super license.

If i'm right about Todt's logic, the mean reason will be not apologizing and recognizing he did something wrong. Todt is right to set him straight.

Spicy detail; Todt has been Ferrari Boss, when Schumacher became World Champion...

Vettels stupid action might ruin his title aspirations.

IMO Vettel needs some counseling. He has been overreacting on petty situations for a while now. And obviously has a short fuse. That might lead to bigger incidents in the future. He needs to clear his head.

[Beardroid91]

The FIA judges and stewards suck, how many times are they going to change their mind about this, they gave him a 10 sec stop 'n go, and then they changed it again to 3points without lefting the 10-40 seconds he lost on the stop 'n go / race win lost, and then now the paper pushers want to give him more, i mean come on, also they should look at the hamster for braking to crawl after accelarating out of the corner that shit wasn't right either and no one said a thing about that.

Also i doubt Vettel mount to purposely hit him, as he holding both hands up at the time, like if he going WTF did you do Ahole, and in a rush his hand must have slipped or something, you saw how he was in such a rush to to get his left arm up, and if the right arm was of the steering wheel and he just bumped the it with his left arm then it was just a mistake and not intentionally.

And honestly Sainz should get a race ban is this how the stewards are acting, as he pushed Grojean of track and then slammed into Massa in the last race and Sainz got away with it without points on the licence as he only got grid penalties.

So the stewards are BIASED AS F*** towards Hamilton.

So Vettel should go and said to them kiss my A**

[MadManCK]

Sainz did get 3 points penalty as well. I think 3 is the max they can give for one race. Also the FIA has studied the data and concluded that Hamilton did nothing illegal. Vettel was just driving too close to him.
Vettel acts like a cry baby and should get his act together quickly, before he endangers anymore other drivers.

http://f1statblog.co.uk/f1-penalty-points/

But we will see how Vettel will defend himself. His action after the first collission should have never happened. And he needs to understand that. I think he still does not. So the FIA wake up call is badly needed.

I do agree on the Stewards inconsistencies. Bottas T-boned Raikkonen and was not even investigated. He has done this before and will continue doing this if he never gets penalized for it. Both Force India Drivers collided badly and again no investigation. That will be different within the team. Kvyatt returned dangerously to the track after he overshot the first corner. Sainz could barely avoid hitting him, causing the Toro Rosso of Sainz into a spin. And so on. Baku was full of incidents.
IMO every incident needs to be investigated, small or big. No matter the outcome.

Other news; Force India is about to change its name into Force One.
Maybe Team Boss Mallyas Indian hassle with tax evasion charges has something to do with that.
I think it is a much better name anyway.

[MadManCK]

Vettel finally came to his senses at the FIA hearing where he apologized for his actions. Jean Todt must have scared him shitless.

Sebastian Vettel has admitted full responsibility for his controversial clash with Lewis Hamilton at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with the FIA subsequently opting against any further action by closing the case.

As the field prepared for a restart at the Baku City Circuit, Vettel ran into the rear of Hamilton's car exiting Turn 15, before gesticulating, moving level, and making side-on-side contact.

Vettel took a 10-second stop/go penalty and finished fourth, ahead of Hamilton, who was delayed by a loose headrest, but the FIA decided to "further examine" the incident on Monday.

Vettel attended the meeting, held at the FIA's Paris headquarters, along with Ferrari team boss Maurizio Arrivabene, and reviewed the incident with a select panel, comprising FIA Deputy President for Sport, Graham Stoker, FIA General Secretary for Sport, Peter Bayer, Formula 1 Race Director Charlie Whiting and Formula 1 Deputy Race Director and FIA Safety Director Laurent Mekies.

Vettel, on his 30th birthday, admitted to "full responsibility" for the incident and offered his "sincere apologies", and the FIA chose not to take any further action.

"While respecting the stewards' decision, the FIA remained deeply concerned by the wider implications of the incident, firstly through the impact such behaviour may have on fans and young competitors worldwide and secondly due to the damage such behaviour may cause to the FIA's image and reputation of the sport," read a statement issued by the FIA on Monday, explaining the reasons behind the meeting.

"Following detailed discussion and further examination of video and data evidence related to the incident, Sebastian Vettel admitted full responsibility.

"Sebastian Vettel extended his sincere apologies to the FIA and the wider motorsport family.

"He additionally committed to devote personal time over the next 12 months to educational activities across a variety of FIA championships and events, including in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, at an FIA Formula 4 championship to be defined and at the FIA stewards' seminar.

I think this is all Jean Todt was after. Vettel showing some remorse.

Unfortunately the Internet was divided. 60/40 to be precise. This implies that 40% of the voters thought Vettel was in his right to smack his car into Lewis. And that is a shocking number, especially as this was very unsporty behavior.

To underline the seriousness of the FIA hearing;

"In light of these developments, FIA President Jean Todt decided that on this occasion the matter should be closed."

However, the statement continued: "In noting the severity of the offence and its potential negative consequences, FIA President Jean Todt made it clear that should there be any repetition of such behaviour, the matter would immediately be referred to the FIA International Tribunal for further investigation."

Todt, in his own summary, reminded top drivers of the role they play.

"Top level sport is an intense environment in which tempers can flare," he said.

"However, it is the role of top sportsmen to deal with that pressure calmly and to conduct themselves in a matter that not only respects the regulations of the sport but which befits the elevated status they enjoy.

"Sportsmen must be cognisant of the impact their behaviour can have on those who look up to them. They are heroes and role models to millions of fans worldwide and must conduct themselves accordingly."

I couldn't agree more with Todt. Sportmanship is key to both greatness in sports as well the essence of a good competition. The best of the best are also role models and an example for many. This applies to all sporting events, including online racing and E-sports

[MadManCK]

You got to admire this, Vettel and Hamilton are placed next to each other at the Austrian GP Thursday Press Conference

[Beardroid91]

Good thing Kevin Magnussen was the middle buffer

[MadManCK]

P1 showed a lot of drivers looking for the limits in the braking zone. Uphill can be tricky, you can brake later but it is also easy to overshoot your point.
I don't know what basic setup Ferrari used to send out its drivers for the first stint, but both Raikkonen and Vettel did some 180's. Must be the spaghetti and meatball setup.

Interesting surprises were McLaren in the top 10 with both cars. Honda seems to have found some extra HP (15 they say) but more important, better driveability. Still a long way to go, but a P1 without a blown engine must have felt like a relief for them.

Lewis set the fastest lap on Yellow tires. Max followed closely on Reds, setting fastest sector times in 1st and second. Bottas and Vettel were following with a 3/10 gap.

First free practice results - 2017 Austrian Formula 1 Grand Prix

Pos. Driver Team Time Laps
1. L. Hamilton Mercedes 01:05.975 38
2. M. Verstappen Red Bull 01:06.165 23
3. V. Bottas Mercedes 01:06.345 35
4. S. Vettel Ferrari 01:06.424 28
5. D. Ricciardo Red Bull 01:06.620 32
6. K. Raikkonen Ferrari 01:06.848 24
7. S. Vandoorne McLaren 01:07.283 31
8. D. Kvyat Toro Rosso 01:07.437 31
9. F. Alonso McLaren 01:07.510 28
10. E. Ocon Force India 01:07.511 39
11. F. Massa Williams 01:07.550 29
12. K. Magnussen Haas 01:07.594 30
13. C. Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 01:07.633 32
14. J. Palmer Renault 01:07.649 31
15. L. Stroll Williams 01:08.041 35
16. R. Grosjean Haas 01:08.074 20
17. S. Sirotkin Renault 01:08.586 27
18. A. Celis Jr. Force India 01:09.280 15
19. P. Wehrlein Sauber 01:09.323 29
20. M. Ericsson Sauber 01:10.853 12

The Red Bull Ring still has expansion plans, to use part of the old Österreich Ring uphill and create a more exciting part of the track there. It is the part of the circuit that is now turn 2, with the boring 90 degree corner*. With lap times of 1.06 the current track is on the short side. So an extention is good for more than one reason.

*last year it was not so boring, when Rosberg and Hamilton drove each other off track.



This proposition makes most sense to me. It would add a chicane at the end of the extended uphill straight and another after the epic fast corner to prevent cars going too fast in the section afterwards. It would also make full use of the old track layout, which was once a very dangerous and blistering fast track.
If Red Bull will go for it remains anybodies guess. But the options are there. So are the plans.


The silly season has started well before the Summer break and Kubica is getting more track time with Renault to see if he is fit to drive again in F1. Palmer is most likely driving his last season there. Sirotkin was even slower than him today, so that is no serious option. Only Alonso could stir things up thare. If Robert Kubica makes it back it will be the recovery of the decade. He ruined his arm in a Rallye accident.

Carlos Sainz wants to move up in the F1 world and is clearly looking to leave Toro Rosso. But where to go?