[shyn]

So Jenson Button picked up a record 70-place grid penalty and somebody decided to have a little fun-
http://www.hasmclarengotapenaltytoday.com/
McLaren changed his engine to the new 'phase four' unit for FP1, resulting in a 25-place penalty. The same components were then changed again for FP2, boosting his tally to 50. After his FP3 problems, the team then reverted back to the FP1 unit but changed to a new turbocharger, control electronics and MGU-H, resulting in his 70 place penalty. Pretty ridiculous.

Something similar was made for the Maldonator a while back- http://hasmaldonadocrashedtoday.com/

Source: https://www.carthrottle.com/post/jen...lty-in-mexico/

[ashwin.terminat]

Poor Fernando, engine problems right at the first lap forcing him to retire. :(

Disaster for Ferrari too; Vettel has a puncture right on lap 1 and heads into the pits for a new set of tyres. I watched the video and I think it was Vettel's fault for squeezing into Ricciardo. Vettel let him self wide open at the corner and then shut the door far too abruptly IMO.

Kimi gets a new power unit and gets a 30 place grid penalty. But will not start last. Why? Button got a 70 place grid penalty.

EDIT: Looks like Kimi's dreadful weekend continues. Collision with Bothas leaves him with rear right suspension damage.

[jfxavier]

Finaly Nico manages to hold on to the Pole position.
"Nico drove really well today," Hamilton said. "No mistakes, no gusts of wind."

What a crowd on all days. Has to be a record!!

Here's the result.



Intersting to see the way Ferrari came apart when they needed the final push for the 2nd palce in WDC.
Vettel drove a fairly average race by his standards first to lose his cool after collecting a puncture from contact with Ricciardo on lap 1 and then a spin but a rather lengthy argument with his team about tyre choice, being shown blue flags and ordered to comply and eventually a sideways slide into the wall after he locked up into T7.

On the other hand the "Battle of the Finns" continued and it's 1-1 as of now.

[SilentEngine]

Originally Posted by jfxavier

On the other hand the "Battle of the Finns" continued and it's 1-1 as of now.

I am sure Bottas must have felt all smug inside the helmet. It's funny that he tried to put the blame on Raikkonen with exact reasons that Raikkonen gave in Sochi. By that argument why did Raikkonen get penalized on Sochi? Where's the consistency?

[asr245]

Mildly interesting race. The track looks good. I like it.

- What a bad day for Vettel & Ferrari in general. Ric can't be blamed for that. Another example of clumsy driving from Kimi. This time while defending. He was looking good till then.
- Finally Nico wins a race after months. Relation between the 2 Merc drivers is frosty at best.
- As usual interesting fights behind the 2 Mercs.

Originally Posted by SilentEngine

I am sure Bottas must have felt all smug inside the helmet. It's funny that he tried to put the blame on Raikkonen with exact reasons that Raikkonen gave in Sochi. By that argument why did Raikkonen get penalized on Sochi? Where's the consistency?

Are you kidding me? Bottas had half his car beside Kimi when they started braking. Kimi knew he was there & didn't leave room. In Russia, he was nowhere close to being beside Bottas. It was a lunge & Kimi was rightly penalised.

I don't have to argue much as apparently the commentators & the stewards thought the same.

[SilentEngine]

Originally Posted by asr245

Are you kidding me? Bottas had half his car beside Kimi when they started braking. Kimi knew he was there & didn't leave room. In Russia, he was nowhere close to being beside Bottas. It was a lunge & Kimi was rightly penalised.

Same in Russia, Bottas knew Kimi was going to be there and decided not to leave room. In yesterday's race Bottas had nearly two wheels on the kerb/grass on the inside meaning there wasn't much space for him in the inside line.

Originally Posted by asr245

I don't have to argue much as apparently the commentators & the stewards thought the same.

If this was a racing incident then so was Sochi. I am only highlighting inconsistent decisions. I am sure in past there were races where we had a similar incident like yesterday, where attacking driver was penalized.

[Hatari]

Originally Posted by SilentEngine

Same in Russia, Bottas knew Kimi was going to be there and decided not to leave room. In yesterday's race Bottas had nearly two wheels on the kerb/grass on the inside meaning there wasn't much space for him in the inside line.

If this was a racing incident then so was Sochi. I am only highlighting inconsistent decisions. I am sure in past there were races where we had a similar incident like yesterday, where attacking driver was penalized.

Disagree. Chalk and cheese mate.
Sochi was a desperate lunge by Kimi, completely stupid.
Mexico, was a head under the sand moment, expecting Bottas to go over the grass!? the corner before Kimi was given enough space on the inside and the next corner Kimi squeezes him. Didnt you see it?

[StarrySky]

Sochi was an ambitious move by Kimi and yesterday it was 50-50. Both are incidents that Kimi would've avoided in the past. But I guess that has, over the years, given Kimi an image of being timid, with people bumping him to overtake - it was Vettel at Turn 1 in one of the races, then Ricciardo at Monaco. I remember Perez taking a lunge at him in Monaco a couple of seasons back. Inconsistent stewarding has seen most of these incidents go unpunished. He may have come off worse yesterday, but I think Kimi wants to change that image and be aggressive, so others know it will be 50-50 if they try to be aggressive with him.

[avishar]

What a contrast between the quality of the race and the quality of the crowd. Its great to see such old tracks back in action and what an atmosphere! Especially in the stadium section. Beats boring Tilke tracks like Korea and Abu Dhabi. I want to Kyalami back too someday!

But the race was a bore. I hoped atleast with the SC car, Hamilton will now pressurize Nico and get him to make a mistake, but Nico drove a great race. Didnt allow Hamilton to get inside his DRS zone in the last few laps.

It was interesting to hear Hamilton whining about why he needed to pit when he knew he could most probably last the entire distance with his current set and win the race when Nico pitted for this second set. I am sure Mercedes knew it too since only a few laps back they said to Nico the tyres are good to last out the race. After that they bring in Nico and pretty much force Hamilton to pit also. Mercedes really wanted to ensure this victory for Nico!

[ashwin.terminat]

This was Ferrari's first double DNF since 2006!

Remarkably, the double exit marks the first non-finish for Ferrari for more than nine years when Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa retired from the 2006 Australian Grand Prix.

Source

Maurizio Arrivabene also had some positive things to say. Not laying too much stress on the drivers and thinking of the entire team:

During the course of this season we touched the sky, today we touched the bottom. This is a good lesson for all of us, preparing ourselves and the character of the team for next year.

“I don't want to blame Kimi in one way, I don't want to blame Seb in the other way. We don't have to excuse and they don't have to excuse, we are a team, so this is my answer.”

[StarrySky]

Originally Posted by avishar

It was interesting to hear Hamilton whining about why he needed to pit when he knew he could most probably last the entire distance with his current set and win the race when Nico pitted for this second set. I am sure Mercedes knew it too since only a few laps back they said to Nico the tyres are good to last out the race. After that they bring in Nico and pretty much force Hamilton to pit also. Mercedes really wanted to ensure this victory for Nico!

They were planning to do 45-or so laps on the same set of tires! It is always a risk to stretch the tire life (eg: Vettel at Spa). By the time Nico stopped for a second time, Merc already had almost 30s on the next car. They could stop and rejoin without losing track position. I think the decision was taken in the interest of safety.

[SilentEngine]

Originally Posted by Hatari

Disagree. Chalk and cheese mate.
Sochi was a desperate lunge by Kimi, completely stupid.
Mexico, was a head under the sand moment, expecting Bottas to go over the grass!? the corner before Kimi was given enough space on the inside and the next corner Kimi squeezes him. Didnt you see it?

Where is the question of giving space to Kimi? Kimi was ahead throughout. They approached the previous corner with Kimi ahead of Bottas and then Bottas came out of slipstream and went towards right, braking late giving the impression that he is ahead. Then immediately locks up his front left losing any advantage of being ahead. When they turn left, Bottas is clearly in no position to take the next turn cleanly and his line is compromised (0:05 in below video). If you think Kimi squeezed him here, i would say Kimi has the racing line at this point and entitled to stick to it. Bottas could have yielded and taken the battle to next corner instead of trying to settle it then and there. He was extremely lucky to come out of it without any damage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTFLoPTaDWY

[Hatari]

Originally Posted by SilentEngine

Where is the question of giving space to Kimi? Kimi was ahead throughout. They approached the previous corner with Kimi ahead of Bottas and then Bottas came out of slipstream and went towards right, braking late giving the impression that he is ahead. Then immediately locks up his front left losing any advantage of being ahead. When they turn left, Bottas is clearly in no position to take the next turn cleanly and his line is compromised (0:05 in below video). If you think Kimi squeezed him here, i would say Kimi has the racing line at this point and entitled to stick to it. Bottas could have yielded and taken the battle to next corner instead of trying to settle it then and there. He was extremely lucky to come out of it without any damage.

Let me explain, what matters is if the car is alongside, a car being marginally ahead or on the racing line is irrelevant (in this case),

Refer to this post 33 :
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/intl-m...l#post2897849]

Vettel did get a penalty for what he did, inspite of being "ahead".

and for reference -

The FIA sporting regulations on overtaking:

Quote:
20.2 Manoeuvres liable to hinder other drivers, such as more than one change of direction to defend a position, deliberate crowding of a car beyond the edge of the track or any other abnormal change of direction, are not permitted.

[SilentEngine]

Originally Posted by Hatari

Let me explain, what matters is if the car is alongside, a car being marginally ahead or on the racing line is irrelevant (in this case),

Refer to this post 33 :
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/intl-m...l#post2897849]

Vettel did get a penalty for what he did, inspite of being "ahead".

and for reference -

The FIA sporting regulations on overtaking:

Quote:
20.2 Manoeuvres liable to hinder other drivers, such as more than one change of direction to defend a position, deliberate crowding of a car beyond the edge of the track or any other abnormal change of direction, are not permitted.

Did Kimi push Bottas out of track? No. Lot of drivers do much worse and that's apparently allowed.

Since you bring crowding rule here, look at this incident from Valencia 2012 where Maldonado was penalized for colliding with Hamilton. It's pretty clear that Hamilton pushed Maldonado off track which actually triggered the contact when Maldonado reentered the track. Hamilton wasn't penalized but Maldonado was.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1Wcch5nR-g

Anyway, my post was to highlight inconsistent application of rules.

20.2
Drivers must use the track at all times. For the avoidance of doubt the white lines defining the track edges are considered to be part of the track but the kerbs are not.
A driver will be judged to have left the track if no part of the car remains in contact with the track.
Should a car leave the track the driver may re-join, however, this may only be done when it is safe to do so and without gaining any lasting advantage. At the absolute discretion of the race director a driver may be given the opportunity to give back the whole of any advantage he gained by leaving the track.
A driver may not deliberately leave the track without justifiable reason.

20.5
Manoeuvres liable to hinder other drivers, such as deliberate crowding of a car beyond the edge of the track or any other abnormal change of direction, are not permitted.

[anachronix]

A picture you may not want to see... There is no space for another car there! Kimi messup in Russia, its now Bottas!

Originally Posted by Hatari

Let me explain