IT's not the same as Kamui/Lewis at all, for the simple reason they were 'battling' for position, Vettel was LAPPING Karthikayan, the penalty is warranted imo, as he moved right before he was fully behind Vettel. I'm not saying Vettel is totally blamless as he should've taken more care when passing, but you can see that Narain had plenty of room on the left to stay on track, and he was under blue flag conditions 'get out of the way'
Looked like a racing incident, but post-race Vettel was just stupid, the nice-guy persona disappears when things don't go his way (e.g collision with Webber 2010, angry at pirelli man 2011) in the race i can accept the anger, but he lost 4th place in the end, and was lucky his main rivals didn't really exploit it (if Alonso challenges for the title, he is the greatest ever). Vettel was stupid in his post race conduct
I've noticed many times before how Vettel will push other drivers aside to get his way, especially at the start when he's on poll. It's not wrong but it is agressive. He was clearly angry with Karthikeyan as he was passing him with fingers waving, and I just don't think he gave him enough room. Venting frustration doesn't help anyone in the race, maybe afterwards. A racing incident for me but could have been avoided by a) Karthikeyan driving better, b) Vettel concentrating on his passing. Verbally abusing another driver when being interviewed doesn't win you many friends either.
In todays world theres no such thing as an accident. If you trip on a pavement its the councils fault for not having it smooth down to atomic levels. There's rarely a "racing incident" these days.
Cant say I disagree with the comments on the attitude Seb gave towards Narain. If Seb is the laid back person he says he is, I'm sure he will say sorry to Narain eventually for calling him an idiot in front of millions etc. It's not on but im not his mother, let alone Seb himself, so if he wants to fester then that's his choice. I'm very sure he doesn't give ten flying ****s about what we think about him and the main reasons why he seperates himself from the glamour to just ignore it. Though I would still support Sebs emotions at the time as he has every right to be pissed off for somebody giving him a puncture which was not his fault. You can clearly see Narain sweep into his slipstream, he failed and then says it was because of the rumble strip plus debri. In my opinion Narain could of just lifted if that was the case and we wouldn't be having this discussion, Seb might of got 3rd and Narain would of beat his team mate, everybody would of been happy.
Has nobody done this yet? Vettel playing Geoff Crammond's GP4 online against Karthikeyan: [video=youtube;PbcctWbC8Q0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbcctWbC8Q0[/video]
They knew he'd be a world champion someday, They just hadn't worked out of what. Other than the world.
This. When the slower car has to get out of the way they can second guess eachother. Best to have the faster car deal with getting round while the backmarker sticks to the only predictable line.
the problem with too many slower cars is not necessarily that they're bad drivers, but that the cars are just too slow and also not as easy to control. the 107% rule is too lenient in my opinion, as the marussia's and HRTs are just too slow to really make a difference. every F1 team should be there to try and do the best possible, and these guys just don't have it in them to go any faster. shouldn't really be allowed to race, but i find it hard to blame karthikeyan. how would you feel if every race your lapped by almost everyone with practically nothing to do and no one to overtake. it would suck quite a lot, and then someone breezes past you and you think "another one gone" and move onto the racing line too quickly. F1 drivers need to concentrate all race, but if you have nothing to do, then thats kind of hard and disheartening. i also agree with the le mans thing (although change it a bit), as it would also make races more interesting. any cars being lapped can stay on the racing line and its basically as normal as if they were racing for position. the car behind has to overtake the one in front, with no special guarantees. would liven up the races towards the end if the leader was being chased down and going through backmarkers at the same time, although the fia would have to make sure no deliberate blocking went on to help sister teams (ie torro rosso blocking mclaren for red bull or another such situation with any team).
I have to say, Kathikeyan really went up in my estimation on Sunday and I'm glad he said that "some drivers" bully those in crap cars too. Then, as if to prove a point, Vettel called him an idiot and a cucumber.
I for one thinks he deserves it. before Vettel even got close to him, Karthikeyan had to let others by at the double rights hander at turn 6 + 7 (?). He slid of the track at the second one, and let someone through, but came back onto the track onto the racing line, when really he should have used the run off (but not too much......Petrov). Then again, it was a massive misjudgement by Vettel, and he should have expected it really, cause the backmarkers never seem to want to move over, even on straights, they hardly move off the racing line. The over reaction was a bit uncalled for, despite it being funny
Right from watching the replays numerous times this is my opinion: 100% NK's fault. You can clearly see from the video SV DID NOT veer across to the left, he keep his car dead straight like the cars in front of him. NK swerved dramatically and eratically to the right slicing SV's tyre as he did so. It is NK's responsibility as a lapped driver to move out of the way - FIA Regulation 20.5 As soon as a car is caught by another car which is about to lap it during the race the driver must allow the faster driver past at the first available opportunity. If the driver who has been caught does not allow the faster driver past, waved blue flags will be shown to indicate that he must allow the following driver to overtake. NK was at fault because he made the contact with SV who was lapping him. NK knew full well joining HRT would mean being lapped so if he doesnt like I think he should not be in F1. In my opinion SV did nothing wrong and it was a stupid and reckless piece of driving from Nk who I dont even believe should be in F1, he is a liability to others.
This is why Vettel is not entirely blameless in my view. There are analogies to be drawn with driving on the public road; or indeed, crossing the street as a pedestrian. There are rules which aim to prescribe a code of conduct; but sticking to them rigidly - regardless of the possible actions of others - is foolhardy. A pedestrian has priority on a zebra crossing, but he/she would be a fool to walk straight out without looking, simply because the law requires vehicles to stop for him/her. Similarly, when passing a parked car with very little available space, knocking someone's door off because a child in the back seat should not have opened it does not necessarily eliminate all blame from the passing driver. Please see my comment above. Virtually no collisions between two moving cars are absolutely and entirely the fault of only one driver, although it is equally unlikely that it is exactly 50 : 50. Now, I am not suggesting it is always possible to avoid someone who is determined to ram you off the track, but it is vitally important to anticipate an error of judgement by the driver one is passing. This is not a strong point in Vettel's racecraft. Yes, Karthikeyan made an error; but Vettel made an error in not allowing for that possibility when there was plenty of room to give him a slightly wider berth. It was, therefore, not 100% Karthikeyan's fault. Very few things are truly black or white. This incident had some degree of 'greyness', hence the discussion we are indulging in.
New stuff.... seems like a new special "friendship" is born lol http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227/7632568/Karthikeyan-hits-back-at-Vettel ----- Narain Karthikeyan has slammed World Champion Sebastian Vettel for the derogatory remarks he made about the HRT man following the Malaysian GP. The pair were involved in an incident on lap 47 of the race in which Vettel clipped Karthikeyan's front wing while passing him, contact which resulted in a left rear puncture for the German. After the race Vettel was in no doubt as to whose fault the coming together was, calling Karthikeyan a "cucumber and saying that: "Just like on the normal roads you have some idiots driving around, it seems like there is also one driving here." The HRT driver has not taken the criticism sitting down though, standing up for himself and accusing Vettel of conduct unbecoming of a double-World Champion. "For a world champion to say things like that is really shameful," Narain Karthikeyan told the Hindustan Times. "It is really unprofessional. For a driver who has achieved so much to take out his frustrations on me just because he is having a difficult year is really sad. One does not expect a professional sportsman to be such a cry baby." Karthikeyan appears to have found support in the form of Force India's Nico Hulkneberg. "I heard about whatever happened and I also saw it on TV," Hulkenberg is quoted as telling reporters. "From what I saw, it was not Narain's fault. So, I don't really understand why he said all of that. "I think Vettel was just emotional at that point of time. He lost out on points, it was frustrating for him and his team. At the end of the day, he is just human and sometimes you get emotional." ----- I wonder if Karthikeyan has any knowledge about F1-history, i guess not. Maybe he hasnt paid attention to former F1 champions actions in the past...... I think he should stop it there, it was clearly his fault, Vettel was angry, end of story.
