Grand Prix thread Formula 1 Pirelli British Grand Prix 2021

I genuinely don't understand racism or homophobia. I don't understand how people who express these views think it makes them a better person. It's the 21st century FFS.

 

I watched the incident quite a few times since yesterday and watched/read a lot of commentary.

As much as I'm a huge Lewis fan, it's hard to argue against the stewards decision imo. Ham did have more room on the right and wasn't quite far ahead to claim the corner as his. BUT Max did defend very aggressively in the preceding corners and on the straight such that I don't think Hamilton could have reached the apex as Max's defence on the straight compromised his corner entry. I do think Max would have struggled to make the corner too given his speed and would have maybe done what CLC did, but we can't know so can't use that to judge.

I think the context is also important imo. To be clear - the context is not important for the steward's decision, who have to base each incident on its own merits and not what has happened earlier in the race or at other races. However, for the fans, and the PR war, the context is important. For me, Max rejoined the track dangerously earlier on the first lap and you can see from Lewis' telemetry and on board that he backed out at that point to avoid an incident, even though Max would have been in the wrong then because he rejoined unsafely. Lewis backed out because that's what champions and experienced drivers do. Further, Lewis backed out in the sprint race on Saturday and has backed our multiple other times this year already - Imola most prominently perhaps.

The point here is that Max can't always expect Lewis to back out, especially as he has/had less and less to lose, as Max's WDC advantage grew. I hope Max learns from this that it's better to bank points and lose a position to come again in the same race, rather than defend aggressively, but I suspect his Dad and Horner will instead feed the aggression and he'll go the other way.

In short, I think the stewards called this right and the punishment was proportionate given both could have done more to avoid the incident, with maybe 65/35 split of responsibility to Ham. But I can see why this has been brewing and Max needs to race smarter, not better.

 

No sign of that happening so far. I like to think Lewis has laid down a marker that says that you can't just expect other cars to yield. It would be good if other drivers did this too. Sadly as long as Max is surrounded by people like Horner who will continue to tell him he's done nothing wrong he won't learn. My fear is that Sunday's incident will make him more aggressive rather than less. Also, I find Red Bull's rhetoric blindly short of self-criticism, dangerous and very disrespectful. When we face these moments and we don't examine ourselves to see what part our actions may have played than we don't learn and improve, we just double down on our mistakes.

 

The only reason I can see for racism is the insecurity within those who perpetuate and promote racism. Do they fear the ability of others?
I am beginning to see Horner as someone who incites others, not with the race card in particular. He is a public figure and he needs to learn to moderate his language, he is inciting others who have a different agenda. I think his choice of language is dangerous and he needs to be told. It was the same with Ocon, when he implied Max should have hit him harder. Team bosses should be subject to scrutiny too. Otherwise this is going to become ugly.

 

Lewis was alongside, I think the difference in part came because Max is a late braker, and maybe too late in this instance. As you say. Max may have failed to hold the corner in any event when braking that late. I would love to see the braking points on the telemetry compared with other times, in the sprint race.

 

Here's nice feel-good story after all the rows and recriminations. Vettel stayed behind after the grand prix to pick up litter in the stands. He's all right that Seb.

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/6...Bp7dxKLki9q_egr8IqJJQiqQCm4vYXz2OagKpeJLH4Nzk

 

I think some people are just plain thick... Plain and simple.

 

I think Hamilton was getting out of it sooner simple down to his line of entry, so fairly confident Max could have come out of that tussle both unscathed and still holding the position. Not sure if he thought he'd cleared Hamilton after he was no longer alongside or if he just wanted to shut the door.

 

The issue

The issue I have is when you see the in cockpit video on Sky it shows Max about to turn, sees that Lewis is there so corrects left and almost immediately turn straight back into Lewis. So whether Red Bull and Max like it or not, Max made the instant decision to move back towards Lewis once he knew he was there. That is Max’s fault

 

I noticed that. I wonder if Max intended to intimidate Lewis into backing off but just hit him instead?

 

That's where I can't tell if he thought he had cleared him. He was close to being clear.

 

I would love it if Lewis wins the Dutch race

 

I know Benson is a tad biased but his article doesn't seem as biased as some of his. He makes some good points:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/57882992

 

I will admit to having quoted bits of it at Facebook morons today. These days I don't generally get drawn into arguments with nobheads on the internet (present company excepted of course ) but the stupidity and hypocrisy has pulled me in today.

 

I would like to thank everyone on here for a great discussion on the race. No matter what peoples opinion no one has been getting personal or nasty, it's great to see a discussion not descend into name calling etc.

Thanks.

 

**** off

 

Definitely. He has done it a couple of times with Lewis backing out, this time Lewis didn't. As Lewis has said he is not going to back off in future. He has thrown the gauntlet down. For sure Max is going to retaliate. For the fans, the season just got very interesting. Just hope no one gets hurt.
The coming together would have slowed the cars but Lewis was nowhere near the outside curb(at least no in the short shot I saw). In theory therefore, he would or could have left Max room and made the corner.

 

They are just not worth the energy.

 

Different takes are the whole point of being here, so pointless getting bent out of shape if somebody disagrees. Things like yesterday are never black and white, always mostly grey.

As for social media... It's a bloody mess out there.