Grand Prix thread Not606 2016 Mexican Grand Prix Chat and Predictions

He's been mouthing off at other drivers all year. His outbursts this year have become very frequent, yes that is up to the FOCA has to whether they want to broadcast them or not, but it does show a general lack of respect to the other drivers the amount he has done that this year.

 

I thought Turkey 2010 and Malaysia 2013 was bad. Come on Seb think of the bigger picture.

 

He's been pretty whiny this year, but it was all fairly unoffensive. Maybe a bit disrespectful, but heat of the moment etc.

It's kind of ironic that he was one of the biggest names pushing for the moving in braking zone rule, yet he's the first to be punished by it. Been a season to forget for Seb, 2017 could be so different, he just needs to quietly finish the season then go again.

 

There has been plenty of irate driver behaviour in recent years, If you search you will find some very fruity and Threatening radio traffic from Montoya, JV etc.. MSc radio after his collision with DC at Spa followed by his attempt to see it through?

It's always been there, albeit driver to driver. God forbid anyone who actually puts their life in the hands if others could question the powers that be.

 

As Manny has eluded to earlier, this has shades of Hamilton's mental torture of 2011, you can add Alonso in 2007 to that as well.

Every top driver has their bad year when they have to fight their demons. This is Seb's.

 

Finely put.

 

Valid point

 

Seb only started doing it after Alonso whined and got him penalised at Monza for doing exactly the same as Alonso had done to him the year before and, unlike the others, he leaves it at the track

 

I hope they ban him, not because I feel they should but because it will drag the sport to new lows and highlight what an out of date, fraudulent dictatorship it is. Seb (rightly or wrongly) is now a political pawn in a sport.

 

No, I think they need to make a statement that you cannot insult the people in charge, same with any other sport.

He is not a political pawn, he has built a rod for his own back. If he swore as much as he did at other players and the umpire in a tennis match he'd get fined or the match awarded to the other player. Why should the FIA not take a stance against such insubordination?

 

that is fair enough.. he has been rather carrying on and a bit of a fine and a talking to would be no harm.

I mean i can fully understand why he did but the smart money should have been on let ricciardo through then ensure that red bull got dinged back totally cos they really cheated IMO.

 

He would have the moral high ground if Ricciardo passed him you are right. Whiting has said he is "not too hung up about it since he apologised", but "my boss (TODT) may wish to pursue it".

 

Just curious does anyone know what is the maximum fine they can do if they decided not to ban him for a race?

 

I am guessing in the tens of thousands ($).

 

I don't think there is much precedent for this kind of thing. The last one that springs to mind was Senna v Balestre when they suspended Senna's licence which was only revoked when he made an apology to Balestre. Not aware there was any fine though.

It happens very rarely in the sport, so what the FIA do about it will be very interesting. If they let it go, they are basically saying they have no balls as an organisation and anyone can say what they like about them.

 

when was the last time you saw anyone banned for a race in F1...

do you really think calling whiting what he did merits an actual race ban?

I think the last one was 2012? Grosjean?

the reality is a few words compared to a seriously dangeorus move getting a race ban is facile form FIA.

Lets be clear in the mexican GP alonso was VERY lucky not to be put in the wall... that was dealt with. and is far more serious than a few words... sorry but it is.. so get on with fining the guy and lets forget about it

 

Honestly we wouldn't be in this situation if the FIA made racing decisions on the spot, they have a countless number of stewards in crispy clean white shirts observing 20-odd screens. And it still takes them around half an our to make a decision or completely ignore an offence, depending on the driver. Seb was just saying what most of us fans thought at the time, he got caught out... thats it.

 

yeah but they have "friends" like alonso had come in at each race. all those lovely technical staff ahnd over to some political ally of whatever drive and inconsistent results pop up

Bascially my view is this;

1. If you leave the track the result should be instant. No quibbling, there should be a clear rule book on what corners and which track at start of year and an instant result should pop up. Where there are specific chicanes like this one in mexico that cutting = 2 seconds gained then put a mini chicane for drivers to drive round off track to make them be punished as they do it. miss that and you get stop go.

2. If you weave and the telemetry live shows it.. top go the person.

3. if you want a foul language ban on radio the either filter the radio again or hit teams where it really hurts, start docking points. Vettel should really actually lose the points form the race for his potty mouth. that would stop him in quick order.

4. 5 second penalties.. 10 second penalties. these are very transparently being used to doctor race results. Like when rosberg gets one, he is given enough to drop him a place on the gird.. this stuff isn't actually really making much sense IMO. again.. figure out precisely what the penalty if for (contact on body work v wheel to wheel) and then assign a points deduction... ok this only works for first 5 teams on gird but it's then a real deterrant. sometimes 5 seconds penalty = no penalty.

5. My bug bear is the pit lane. The teams get away with bloody murder at times with no sanction depending on stewards. Look at the side by side rubbish that went on a couple times and unsafe releases etc etc. the rule must be more clear. ANY RACING in the pit lane = back flag IMO.

rant over.

 

Lets hope Brawn tries to implement some kind of clarity and order when he starts his correspondence with Todt.

 

A fine would be appropriate with a warning that further repeats may result in something more serious.

Vettel says it is heat of the moment stuff, but even so there are boundaries that shouldn't be crossed.

To ignore this and point out the FIA's other issues on stewarding is not right though. Both are issues that need dealing with and overlooking one in favour of the other does not sort the matter out.