Basically... here's where we are at, and have been for some time. If you're defending, simply brake late, fail to make the corner and run your opponent off track. It's apparently legitimate.
Be careful though, if you accidentally brake correctly and stay on track like George did, that'll be 5 seconds
Apparently the rules are quite clear. If attacking, you must leave room, if you're defending, no rules apply whatsoever.Just have at it.
The only thing I can say for the stewards is it wasn't the first time, or last, that Lando went outside track limits.
Unfortunately that's exactly it. It seems to have become a written rule. The stewards need to look at entry speed vs previous entry speed and steering angles, track position etc. They would see that clearly Max had no intention of staying within the track limits. He only did it when he was about to be passed, on no other lap where it was just him driving did he not stay within track limits on turn 1. I would say it's cheating but the stewards have allowed it many many times so it becomes 'normal' tactic. There needs to be rules created to stop this, in a similar way to the no weaving in the braking zone rule that came in due to Max's tactics. I give Max credit for knowing how the stewards see tactics like this but the tactic isn't racing. The FIA needs to stamp out this tactic as it's not racing.
Well, considering he referred to Max as "The great white hope" in an interview, something he denies saying, and that he could be considered a bit of a Max fan, I get the feeling he might be lenient when it comes to doling out punishment. Not to mention that he ran/maybe still runs Honda dealerships, I question his integrity.
To be fair to Brundle he called it 20 laps beforehand when he said with the rules as they are it’s virtually impossible to make a pass around the outside. I don’t know exactly how you rewrite the rules to fix that, in general. For the Norris/Verstappen one I do think they could have let it go because Max let off the brakes just a little too much and didn’t make the corner either. It’s a shame because I was really enjoying the battle until that point and whoever came out on top, it didn’t deserve to be settled in the stewards room, which has distracted both from that and Ferrari’s excellent performance.
Stewards used to be fastidious people... Now they're no better than paid drivers or nepo babies. It's a sh1t show
For arguments sake, let's just say that Lando anticipated what Max was about to do, hit the brakes earlier, took the apex and let Max vanish in to the scenery, meaning Max would exceed track limits and carry more speed out of the corner. In that scenario Max would have been penalized for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. So none of this makes any sense, because his inability to make the corner impeded Landos ability to make the corner and complete the pass. The action is the same, the outcomes are different but either way Max is getting an advantage from leaving the track and failing to make the corner. Ideally, in a same racing world, Max would be penalized for forcing a driver off track. Under the current rules, you could argue that both should be penalized. Either way it's mental and it's perfectly acceptable to drive like a clown and put your opponent off track.
I’m not sure that’s really the problem though? In your scenario Max, either loses the place or keeps it by leaving the track and gets a penalty. In the scenario today Max marginally misjudged (I think - I’m going off the commentary which indicated neither made the corner) his defence and that meant he ran wide and Norris had to run even wider. I’d contend in that situation, just let them get on with it, if both are as tight as they can be and it’s not some huge out of control dive on the part of either driver. Obviously and unfortunately that’s not what was decided today. The one that I see as being problematic is that having got roughly level on the outside as an attacking car, the defending car seems to have the right to stay on track, but essentially run you out of road on the exit and we saw numerous drivers do that. We need something that says if both cars are under control and roughly level at the apex, the car on the outside has the right to a car’s width through the whole corner, whilst it remains alongside.
If I were writing the rules, I'd agree and mandate leaving a cars width so long as the car behind/ on the outside is more than ~50% alongside, but it seems most prefer to allow for a bit more aggression than that. As you say, basically every driver forces the guy on the outside off the road and consensus seems to be that's fine because the leading car has the right to dictate the line so long as they lead at the apex. What's been exposed today (and really since Brazil 2021) is there's a real need to clarify that this right should only apply if the leading car is carrying reasonable speed at the apex. Which I'd define by not falling off the road on the exit. I think even people who prefer to allow more aggressive defending can get behind that.
You beat me to it . Brundle said that with the rules as they are now , you can get someone forced off the track and just carry on . Max would have been penalised , but only for exceeding track limits . Landis was for gaining an advantage , which he did . The thing I have always wanted back are what both Davidson & Button mentioned . Gravel Traps . They won’t come back big time IMHO . Not because of safety , but because when a car goes off into a gravel trap it often gets stuck there . So the sponsors not seeing his 4 wheeled bill board in action anymore .
Becoming really fed up of live sport now, and not just F1. Almost weekly now, ridiculous, nonsensical decisions happen and I am convinced it is to drive online discussion and debate to drive click ££££££ content. F1 has been like it ever since Liberty came on board. Premier League since VAR. NFL is 100% inconsistent in decisions with their main aim driving drama and close finishes. it feels like we’re just part of this machine trying to annoy us to come on here and spew about it. I suppose it is working!!! But man, I miss the simpler days of honest competition, and impartial commentary/broadcasting.
