[Official] German Grand Prix 2018: Grand Prix Weekend Thread

[Adam43]

FWIW I’d have been OK with a penalty too. Probably more so as I like Bot.

[S griffin]

First wet race of the season and it gave us some great racing. Vettel throws away crucial points there, pretty much any other place on the circuit he would have got away with it.

First time that Lewis has won from a double digit grid position, which is remarkable. Am I right in Fred was the last one to do it in Valencia?

Shame for Danny, I just hope he challenges for the title one day. And good to see Ericsson and especially Hartley in the points

[E.B]

They should have shaved his head publicly.
More steward inconsistency.

[Aysedasi]

Whatever the debate, I'm still laughing like a drain. Worked fine for me, but then I am shallower than the average Cat.......

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by E.B

They should have shaved his head publicly.
More steward inconsistency.

I believe that was the penalty Kimi got in Baku

Or they could make him listen to his own music. This is what F1 needs a shake up of the penalty system.

You could argue that this was a sensible decision which stops penalties getting out of hand. Or you could say rules are rules. Neither approach is wrong and just down to your point of view.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Or they could make him listen to his own music.

I'm confident he would have taken that......

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Whatever the debate, I'm still laughing like a drain. Worked fine for me, but then I am shallower than the average Cat.......

Do you want Hamilton’s babies too?

[Aysedasi]

No, but my wife would happily look after them......

Amidst all the blatant bias against the guy, he's still better than everyone else out there, barring perhaps Alonso*. I'm certainly not a Hamilton fanboy, but seeing him win in Vettel's back yard, I'll freely admit that it raised more than a few giggles in my household.... It took me back to the day when Prost skittered off on the warm-up lap.... As I said, shallow and proud of it.....


*Oops I forgot the de rigeur 'IMO'......


PS Too many smilies......

[djinvicta]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Do you want Hamilton’s babies too?

What a thought Ayse...

Anyone else totally fed up with Steve Jones crass talk with DC or KC or EJ.. absolute rubbish binned crap he comes out with..or crazy snippets to try and "get the adrenalin going???"

What a wally....
Where's Murray....

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

I'm confident he would have taken that......

A penalty for the others?

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Adam43

A penalty for the others?

Yeah, he might have taken that too......

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Adam43

I believe that was the penalty Kimi got in Baku

Or they could make him listen to his own music. This is what F1 needs a shake up of the penalty system.

You could argue that this was a sensible decision which stops penalties getting out of hand. Or you could say rules are rules. Neither approach is wrong and just down to your point of view.

I don't think this does stop penalties getting out of hand and it defeats the purpose of penalalising someone for breaking the rules. It's just another example of the stewards inconsistency. So for both of those reasons, I don't think it was the right approach.

[Adam43]

Surely falls under the stuff happens in racing category like a coming together racing incident? I don’t think we risk anarchy from not enforcing some rule here.

[Aysedasi]

The thing is, what is the alternative, no penalties? Or set penalties and no discretion for the stewards? Perhaps we need the same stewards at every race?

[Adam43]

Rules, guidelines and steward discretion.

Same stewards, then we get accusations of consistent bias? They always favour Ferrari, or Mercedes, or whoever.

Rigid application of rules, in a sport that has so much variation, is not a good idea. No rules clearly doesn’t work. They can always do better, of course, but I’m fine with it being based on what we have now.

Of course, people will whinge whatever, so why worry too much. I follow rugby and I like how that is refereed. Rules are rules, but there is room for some sense. Not every off side results in a yellow, but some do.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

The thing is, what is the alternative, no penalties? Or set penalties and no discretion for the stewards? Perhaps we need the same stewards at every race?

I was going to ask more or less the same thing.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Of course, people will whinge whatever, so why worry too much.

And there you have it.


(Note the smiley variation.....)

[Compromised]

The problem now is a precedent has been set - how can they penalize any other driver for aborting a pit stop in a similar manner?

Isn't this F1? The most elite motorsport category on the planet? Any breach of the rules should be punished as teams are intimately familiar with said rules and have budgets which should eliminate such amateur mistakes that Mercedes and Ferrari seem to make

[Razzzor]

You've got to wonder, how much of a points lead would Ricciardo or Alonso have in that Ferrari?



If Seb fails to win this season maybe they should actually consider a revamp of drivers. Bring in Ricciardo and Leclerc. Sebs big crash at Singapore last year contributed to him losing that title. If he loses this one too? That off was pathetic and only the Lulu of 2007 would have made a silly error like that.



However I so don't buy into the "Ferrari has the best car" rubbish now. He was barely holding on in front of Bottas, and we know Seb is faster than Bottas who's really just another Webber/solid #2. If Lulu started on the front row in either of these last 2 races he would have left them both 10 seconds behind. His pace and tyre saving was simply much better.


Ferrari need to rethink how they use Kimi though. He did far more to compromise Sebs race than either of the Mercs.


To those who pitted for inters on a dry track... just shows even smart people can get it completely wrong. Horner's a smart fella but how could he possibly think coming in for inters then was the right move for Verstappen???



And TR pitting Gasly for full wets? Whoever does the strategy there might as well be sent packing.

[Skam85]

If Bottas was leading after the SC and Hamilton was having a go, would Merc have told Lulu to hold position?

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by ScotsBrutesFan

https://www.fia.com/file/70852/download?token=V4c1LTwn

Competitors are reminded that they have the right to appeal the decisions of the Stewards (with the exception of those referred to in Article 12.2.4 of the FIA International Sporting Code), in accordance with Article 15 of the FIA International Sporting Code and Article 9.1.1 of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules, within the applicable time limits.

do these steward missives usually include this reminder at the end?

makes me think they are just spinelessly putting the onus on Ferrari to play the villain card.

or makes me wonder why Ferrari didnt already have a rep in the room advocating for a the rules to be applied.

not so much a conspiracy but i find myself wondering what would have been different had Marchionne been in attendance.

[Greem]

You only have to look back one race to find a matching incident, decision making process and outcome...

Sainz did similarly at Silverstone in a practice session, right at my feet - passed the bollard to the left, then entered the pit entry over the grass.

Team got a €1000 fine. No penalty applied to the driver.

The reasoning was similar - late radio call, split second decision.

Arguably going that way is much more dangerous, as there's far less room for error.

[wnut]

and Vettel didn't change Perez' quali, and got a three place grid penalty.

[F1Guy]

Karma is a *****. Ain't it?

Vettel's radio message when he won in Silverstone was just foul, mouthing off something about beating the Brits in their backyard, and hanging the British flag at the doors of Maranello. Add to that Ferrari's post race press brief which had a dig at Hamilton with the title. Uncalled for.

And then in the very next race, Finger Boi crashes from the lead, all on his own, in his home GP, when he had absolutely no reason to push!?? Karma!

Not ashamed to say I giggled my ass off when Finger Boi went off. I was almost certain he would do something like that. Was expecting an off track excursion, or maybe a spin, but not a trip into the barrier. Anytime there is a sprinkle of water, the "4 time champion" turns into jelly. Cannot drive in the wet as good as in the dry. Can't keep it on the track or keep up the speed in the rain. How many times has he done it now?


If anyone is questioning why Vettel will go down in history as the most overrated F1 driver of all time, that was the perfect answer. 4 time champion my ass.

[TrapezeArtist]

OK. Hamilton/pitlane/confusion/grass/stewards has been done to death. Let's move on.

Those wet/dry conditions were incredibly difficult for all the drivers. Leclerc did a full 360 and stayed on the track. Vettel misjudged it slightly and paid a huge penalty that may well haunt him at the end of the season. Various other drivers had big moments despite going super-slowly. Hamilton carved through as if his slicks just turned into inters as the wet appeared, and turned back on the dry bits.

I couldn't understand how Bottas, Raikkonen and Verstappen were still 2/3/4 after the safety car. They all stopped during the safety car period (Bottas for rather a long time ) so I expected them to all come out at the end of the snake. Surely not all the other lower runners stopped?

I was slightly perplexed by the decision to put Verstappen on inters. It seemed a gamble for someone quite well placed. I find Gasly and full wets more understandable. He was well down anyway and if the post-race rain had come at that moment it would have turned out to be a brilliant decision.