Any F1 fans

[Ron240]

If I’d been Toto I’d have put Bottas on a bl**dy big bonus to do his job to the end of the season. He is an incredible one lap specialist but doesn’t have race speed which may determine the outcome of the championship

A bonus sounds like a good idea, and as you say it would need to be a very big one!
I wonder though at this level how big an influence money can have, because depending on where you read it Bottas is already on a salary of around 10 million this year plus personal sponsorship.
You are right about Bottas as a driver...he is definitely up there with the best over one lap but does not have what it takes on race distance.
The team and Lewis are going to need him in the last 3 races, which highlights that fact that it is a team sport.

 

[JBell]

Amazing race!
Lewis starts 10th and wins by 10 seconds in a totally straight fight.
I don't think anybody honestly believed that was possible.

I think everyone thought it was a foregone conclusion after the Sprint Race, I was surprised it took him that long

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

A bonus sounds like a good idea, and as you say it would need to be a very big one!
I wonder though at this level how big an influence money can have, because depending on where you read it Bottas is already on a salary of around 10 million this year plus personal sponsorship.
You are right about Bottas as a driver...he is definitely up there with the best over one lap but does not have what it takes on race distance.
The team and Lewis are going to need him in the last 3 races, which highlights that fact that it is a team sport.

I think the bonus would have to be in the 1 million per race category to get his full attention which would make Mercedes flinch a bit- dependent on results of course

 

[Styles997]

Sick to death of Horner and Max the last couple of months. I think they are tarnishing their own brand and the sport

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Verstappen should take note of how LH conducts himself on race weekends if he wants to be respected by his peers and loved by the fans, LH is the nearest you will get to a gentleman racer in the modern age

 

[mioba]

Thats so true. Lewis has great conduct and is very humble and yet he is always trying to inspire.

I used to watch him a few years back and think he is a bit of an oddball (how wrong) He really has as fantastic persona.

 

[Hotspur]

Max is a petulant little boy, yes very talented but wrong mind set - perhaps we would have been the same at his age in his shoes, but he needs to grow up or he will end up like Senna...

 

[AMGeed]

He broke the rules which clearly state you must remain properly secured in the car until you reach Parc Ferme, they have done the same to many drivers over the years.

MB seriously need to sort their engines out though RIC retired because of engine failure so a penalty is coming his way. Ferrari seem to have the measure of McLaren now, silly mistake by Norris that cost him dearly although the SC gave him some reprieve.

Yes I appreciate Lewis broke the rules and was rightly penalised. It's a pity the stewards could exonerate MV for pushing Hamilton off the track without seeing in car footage beforehand. Now its been seen and Michael Masi agrees it was 100% punishable, lets see if Verstappen gets a grid penalty in the next race. If he doesn't he has broken the rules got away with it scot free.

Re the Mercedes engines unreliability this season. I would guess that due to the significant improvement of the Red Bull, Mercedes have upped the power at the expense of reliability.
I would give a lot of credit to both Honda and Renault being far more competitive this season compared to last year.

 

[LostKiwi]

I did think it odd at the time that we never saw any in car footage from Max but did from Lewis.

 

[Marty Y]

I did think it odd at the time that we never saw any in car footage from Max but did from Lewis.

Could Mercedes use missing Verstappen video to demand review of Hamilton clash?

Mercedes may have an opportunity to demand a penalty for Max Verstappen if missing cockpit footage from yesterday's race appears.

www.racefans.net

"Comments made by FIA Formula 1 race director Michael Masi seemed to offer Mercedes a glimmer of hope. Masi confirmed the stewards did not have access to a potentially significant piece of evidence at the time they decided not to investigate the incident. The stewards could only view the same television pictures broadcast on the world feed.

Although multiple onboard camera views are captured from cars, only one is transmitted live at a time. Verstappen’s view switched from forward-facing to rearward-facing just before Hamilton pulled out to overtake him.

Therefore the forward-facing onboard video from Verstappen’s car was not broadcast and was not seen by the stewards at the time they decided against investigating the incident. This is significant because, assuming the video later emerges, it potentially opens the door for Mercedes demand they review the incident."

 

[JBell]

It's a pity the stewards could exonerate MV for pushing Hamilton off the track without seeing in car footage beforehand. Now its been seen and Michael Masi agrees it was 100% punishable, lets see if Verstappen gets a grid penalty in the next race. If he doesn't he has broken the rules got away with it scot free.

I think the problem there is you will then set a precedent, this season there have been many incidences where drivers have pushed each other wide, HAM did it to PER in Turkey when he pushed him into the Pit Lane (for example), the team radio is constantly full of "he pushed me wide / he deliberately pushed me off the track" and even though some are VERY obvious there is no punishment and if thee is it's a 5 second penalty which would make no difference in the grand scheme of things.

As a massive F1 fan I want to see clean racing but every driver at some time will push the boundaries (Look at Senna and Prost, MSC and VIL, MSC and HILL).

The weaving and being shown the Black and White Flag was totally different and VES petulance was stupid. Maybe they should use it for more incidences to give them a warning

Re the Mercedes engines unreliability this season. I would guess that due to the significant improvement of the Red Bull, Mercedes have upped the power at the expense of reliability.

Ted said they had accidently engineered a weak point into the engine to gain more power and were working on a fix, they know what it is so should be fixable as the Engine Freeze comes into effect at the end of the season.

Yes I appreciate Lewis broke the rules and was rightly penalised.

I think the thing with seatbelts is it directly contradicts the FIA Road Safety Campaign which is MASSIVE for them, so the fine will go to that.

 

[Ron240]

I think the problem there is you will then set a precedent, this season there have been many incidences where drivers have pushed each other wide, HAM did it to PER in Turkey when he pushed him into the Pit Lane (for example), the team radio is constantly full of "he pushed me wide / he deliberately pushed me off the track"

I agree with what you are saying and it does happen a lot, but the difference in this case (to my mind anyway) is that Max also ran off the track.
He was so focused on trying to make sure that Lewis did not overtake him that he was unable to make the corner himself. The onboard footage which is taking an unusually long time to be seen and judged by the stewards has to confirm this.
Listening to Lewis talking in the press conference afterwards when he was specifically asked about this incident, he seemed very calm about it and was not blaming Max in any way.

 

[JBell]

Listening to Lewis talking in the press conference afterwards when he was specifically asked about this incident, he seemed very calm about it and was not blaming Max in any way.

Don't think he cares, he won, end of, let's go to the next one

 

[Ron240]

Don't think he cares, he won, end of, let's go to the next one

Typical racing driver mentality.
Certainly not got long to wait for the next one.

 

[Chrishazle]

Posted yesterday afternoon on the similar thread on t'other side by Stratman :

From Twitter:-
Antonio Lobato
@alobatof1
Michael Massi, director de carrera de la F1 reconoce que no tuvieron acceso a las onboards de Verstappen en el incidente con Hamilton. Tras verlas asegura que la acción era 100% sancionable
Translate Tweet
10:32 AM · Nov 15, 2021·Twitter for iPhone
Translation:-
F1 race director Michael Massi acknowledges that they did not have access to Verstappen's onboards in the incident with Hamilton. After seeing them, he assures that the action was 100% punishable

 

[JBell]

Translation:-
F1 race director Michael Massi acknowledges that they did not have access to Verstappen's onboards in the incident with Hamilton. After seeing them, he assures that the action was 100% punishable

Is the key word in that statement "was" ????

 

[LostKiwi]

Footage is in the public domain now:

Max Verstappen on-board footage released from Lewis Hamilton wheel-to-wheel controversy in Sao Paulo GP

A new angle on the big talking point from Sunday has been released, with the on-board camera from Max Verstappens Red Bull giving a fresh look at how he defended from Lewis Hamilton to keep the lead; Battle resumes this week with the first Qatar GP, live on Sky Sports F1

www.skysports.com

 

[JBell]

Certainly not got long to wait for the next one.

Thick and fast now, hope they finish Saudi!!!!

 

[BassMerc]

The stewards at each GP are 3 of the local blazer and armband brigade plus an under achieving F1 has been.

What is required is the same group of stewards who attend all GPs. Or as is but with a race director who’s a lot more involved in the process.

 

[Chrishazle]

Stratman on t'other side must have inside info, just posted this :


The thick plottens:-