This is such a complex topic. There is no doubt Lewis has suffered racism, even from supporters of his talents. Even on this site historically there have been those who 'bash' Hammy fans. Was that for racism reasons. We have all bashed MV here, not racism, just didn't like his character. Lewis never created controversy about his driving technique nor his ability but still got a bashing. We put our sporting heroes on a pedestal, usually unquestionably. It is hard not to be a fan of his capabilities and frankly the person. He has perhaps not been vocal enough about the racism in the past, but I think his approach was I will let my talents do the talking. He always praises the team and the fans and I think he does in a way that is genuine. I like him and do think he is not recognised as he should be. The establishment has changed and there is a move towards not liking tax avoidance which will probably be a reason for him not receiving a knighthood, which his sporting prowess would otherwise require to be a certainty. I do think he messed up with his talk of a poor home. I will not bore everyone with my entire childhood experience but I competed in a sport, I became county champion, I competed at national level. Zero support from my parents, who never attended a single sporting event in which I competed, nor a single training event. They didn't believe I was county champion till they saw I had medals and didn't attend when I competed at national events. Not even once, it was never a conversation in the house. But I did it. It took me decades to process this but I finally did. Racism is not the only crime. Lewis does owe a big debt to his father and I hope he now finally recognises that. His achievements are also the achievements of his father.
I agree with that in a big way. Without his Dads support he wouldn't be where he is today. That said his Mum and his brother will have also contributed and sacrificed.
Appears that Red Bull have lodged an appeal against Merc and the DAS system. It will be interesting to find out on what grounds and if they are successful.Rumor has it Red Bull have a DAS system ready to slot in!!!!!
I would not be at all surprised that Redbull have a solution. This was the way of F1, innovation creating advantage, albeit short term.
If Red Bull think its breaking the rules after making their own solution then it probably is illegal. And to be honest a movable part like that can affect aerodynamic flow so does appear to break the rules but the officials seem intent on backing Mercedes
It's difficult for them to now make it illegal after 9+ months of telling Mercedes it's legal and even changing the rules for next year to make it illegal. It feels like it should be illegal, but the FIA are in too deep now to say that.
As the rule is written it is legal. Adjustment can only be made by the steering wheel, which is the case. They tightened the rule for next year by saying rotation of the steering wheel, which clearly they are not doing this year. I still believe an engineer could solution this with a rotation mechanism and maybe that is what Redbull have designed, perhaps less efficient but an improvement.
Looking like Merc have given tracing point a smokey old engine for Perez although I did read somewhere that before p1 they had to replace all Merc engines as they had an error. I wonder if they had enough? First red flag by latiffi, bit too quick on throttle.
Watching Sky they seem to suggest that they are using DAS to warm up the front tyres on the out lap. They say the weaving to warm them up can overheat the rears so DAS allows them to warm the front without damaging the rears!!! It will be interesting to see if they use it for extra tyre life in the race or not?
