Did I imagine Verstappen running into Bottas and ruining his race after the restart? Just Verstappen didn't get a penalty for it, everyone seems to be ignoring it when lavishing praise on the kid, and Bottas seems to be getting no credit whatsoever for what should've been a fourth place finish. Genuinely would like an answer to this because I was insanely tired and it's all a bit of a blur.
That's a good point, AG. Bottas got a puncture as the result of a collision with a Toro Rosso, which ruined his race. This was around lap 48. There was so much going on that I found it difficult to keep track of everything, and some of the detail is a bit blurred. Are you sure it wasn't Sainz hitting Bottas? Now that you've asked, I find myself wondering so you may well be right about it being Verstappen.
Possibly, I'm not sure about anything to be honest. Edit: It was Verstappen, from the Guardian live feed: Lap 50: Also colliding in that chaotic restart were Verstappen and Bottas, with the Toro Rosso man clipping the rear of Bottas, causing him to dramatically lose ground. Here’s how it stands after that madness: 1. Vettel 2. Rosberg 3. Raikkonen 4. Ricciardo 5. Kvyat 6. Hamilton 7. Verstappen 8. Sainz 9. Alonso 10. Button Edit 2: Found a dodgy video of it too: He'd set himself nicely for a pass on Kvyat too. I said earlier he should've been fourth but with Ricciardo's extra pitstop he would've been guaranteed a podium, possibly second.
Thanks for pointing this out. I had completely forgotten. So why didn't he get a penalty in a race where they were being handed out like golf sale flyers? Oh, well...
Rosberg - Ricciardo please log in to view this image Verstappen - Bottas please log in to view this image
I actually think that was Bottas' own fault for swiping across Verstappen. Which is kinda understandable because he was setting himself up for the two ahead but it's part of the reason why I don't think he's ready for anything more than a midfield spot, he just seems to mess up whenever he's in a decent position.
I'm still of the view that the car that holds the advantage (which IMO is the car in front) has the entitlement to their line (within reason) - assuming that they have not unnecessarily chopped or brake tested. I don't think either Nico or Bottas were necessarily defending their position either. In Nico's case it's a situation of action/reaction - Riccs lunge would have altered Nico's line and speed and given that most (if not all) would agree that Riccs attempt was both unrealistic and out of control he has created the "action". The reaction is contact on exit, in which Ricc had no right to contest this corner given that he was not significantly alongside to be deemed to be entitled to a cars width.
I wouldn't say Ricciardo was entitled to a full car's width as it were, but he had half his car off the track already and he's entitled not to have his front wing taken off. What Rosberg did was fine except he hadn't fully cleared Ricciardo car. Do you honestly think he cut across thinking "this is my corner, I'm going to make him back out or run wide."? Especially given his position in the championship? I don't, I think he thought he'd got the position back, that he was clear to cut across and that he made a misjudgement. I also think it's unreasonable to expect Ricciardo to bail out when Rosberg has come from so far across, he gave him no time to react.
I don't think the Verstappen / Bottas incident was sufficiently clear cut to rule it as more than a 'racing incident'. In the heat of the restart, Bottas was adjusting his position* whilst focussed on the possibility of an early pass on the two cars right in front but he'd left a bit of an invitation to Verstappen as they entered the corner, which Verstappen was entitled to try to exploit. Some of the other incidents during the race were much less '50/50'. *My thanks to BLS for providing those excellent visual reminders.
[QUOTE="AbsolutelyGlorious, post: 8174481, member: 1000820]What Rosberg did was fine except he hadn't fully cleared Ricciardo car. Do you honestly think he cut across thinking "this is my corner, I'm going to make him back out or run wide."? Especially given his position in the championship? I don't, I think he thought he'd got the position back, that he was clear to cut across and that he made a misjudgement. I also think it's unreasonable to expect Ricciardo to bail out when Rosberg has come from so far across, he gave him no time to react.[/QUOTE] No I agree, I think it was a pure misjudgement which is Why the stewards obviously viewed it as a racing incident. I still hold the view that the trailing car as a better view of their front wing than the lead car has of their rear tyre, so in reality I would think that Riccardo would have got out of it. It reminded my of Bahrain between Nico & Lewis, except in that case it was deliberate race craft from Lewis giving Nico the option to "lose his front wing".
Well, what a bizarre race. Finally got around to watching it last night. Littered with mistakes, some great overtakes, some errrr opportunistic moves and lots of drama. Lewis, dear oh dear, what a shocker. Race to forget, but everyone is allowed a bad one every now and then. Very lucky that Rosberg can't defend properly and stupidly punctured when he didn't need to. Alonso will replay that race a thousand times and still won't be able to work out how he managed to finish 5th!
The radio transcript is out, including the part which eventually probably cost Rosberg a shot at leading the championship into the summer. 36 Tony Ross ->Nico Rosberg --- So Nico we need to find more lap time. Lewis will be going to the [medium] tyre, possibly earlier than you. 36 Nico Rosberg ->Tony Ross --- I’ll go to the [medium] as well, then. 36 Tony Ross ->Nico Rosberg --- Nico at the moment the pit wall are not inclined to do that. 37 Tony Ross ->Nico Rosberg --- So Nico you can do this on [soft] but we need to find more pace on the [medium] at the moment. So Nico Lewis currently 7.5 seconds behind you on the [soft] tyre, a second a lap quicker. Most of that is from the tyre but we do have to find more pace. http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2015/07/29/2015-hungarian-grand-prix-team-radio-transcript/ Also, talk about Red Bull poo pooing Kvyats moment VL Gianpiero Lambiase ->Daniil Kvyat --- That is P2. Probably a lot more… VL Daniil Kvyat ->Gianpiero Lambiase --- Yes! VL Gianpiero Lambiase ->Daniil Kvyat --- Yeah a little bit more than we deserved I guess. Nonetheless you were there to pick up the pieces so well done for that. We will analyse the pace later. Good job. VL Daniil Kvyat ->Gianpiero Lambiase --- Yes, yes, I understand. Thank you for the first podium guys, thank you. It was a tough race. We will analyse but we all deserve this after such a tough season. We will keep pushing always. VL Christian Horner ->Daniil Kvyat --- Well done Danny. You know what a podium means. Great job today and it’s the kind of race I think Bianchi would have enjoyed, I’m sure you’ll be thinking about him. VL Daniil Kvyat ->Christian Horner --- Yes VL Christian Horner ->Daniil Kvyat --- But good job today. VL Daniil Kvyat ->Gianpiero Lambiase --- Yes thank you we will analyse that later.
I think this race was pivotal. I can't see Hamilton dropping big points for the rest of the season. So that's the championship wrapped up. Also has Mercedes ever won a race with strategy ? They are a bad team with a good car and drivers.
They did at Silverstone. Couldn't overtake Williams on the track so made their move at the pitstops. Other than that, they are usually so far ahead strategy never comes into play, no wonder they are a bit rusty! Strategy is also fine provided you have the driver(s) who can implement it. Brawn/Schuey (in his prime) were masters at this, Brawn would tell MSC what he had to do, MSC would go and do it. Rosberg is not of the same calibre, so unlikely to be able to perform such feats Yes, they must be so annoyed that they aren't 1-2 at every race
That why I liked the 2009 quali format with X amount of fuel on board. Although the laps of fuel on board ended up being very much of a muchness, I think in a situation like now we would see far more strategy variances. As we have all seen, even the dominant Merc with the best driver will struggle when not in clean air.
Benson's half term report: http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/33737309 Apparently Red Bull, Toro Rosso and McLaren have a better car than Ferrari.
I read that but couldn't bring myself to post it in case someone attributed the article to myself. Did he do that on his coffee break!? Easily the weakest article he has done.
And how can anyone claim that Maldonado only deserves a 3 this year? He's had one bad race and his luck was so bad at the start of the year with his car always breaking down while in the points.. Although he's not been amazing in qualifying, he's had better race pace than Grosjean and he's clearly being judged by one race. The whole article is just a joke. Anyone who doesn't even watch F1 could have done a better job than that!
