[mohammedismail]

I think Rosberg is responsible for the crash! If you notice he was in different mode than Hamilton during the start. After the turn his car went into harvesting mode(Red light starts blinking on the rear) and he lost a lot of power where Hamilton did not and there was a lot a space for him to overtake from the right that's when Rosberg becomes defensive tries to block Hamilton and he was forced to go on the grass!

[ecenandu]

Originally Posted by asr245

Agree that Nico's defensive move came late, but it was ruthless & I liked it. I am 101% sure that's what Ham/Vettel/Alonso would have done too. He slammed the door on Ham's face! They were both out but Ham lost more than Nico. Maybe next time Hamy will be more careful.

Vettel was also in a similar position to Nico in the same corner, though Vettel had a moment at turn 3 unless like Nico who was in the wrong engine mode.

Vettel did defend the inside line to Carlos but left enough room on the left, you can see the same from the helicopter shot showing the Nico-Lewis tangle. The video is available in Formula1 page, I have posted the same in my last post.

At the end of the day, I believe it was just a racing incident. Nico's defence and Lewis attack is both equally defendable given who important the track position is here for the victory. Demonstrated by Kimi's inability to overtake Max who was on a relatively slower car compared to him.

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Sorry, I disagree. I think H is becoming the new Hunt the Shunt (James Humt has that nickname). Totally irresponsible. Going off the track on the grass, and that too to overtake your own teammate. I think Niki Lauda also suggested that it was more of H's fault. Nico had every right to defend his position.

It was a great race by Max V. Seems that Kimi's tyres were wearing out.

Lewis went on to the grass to avoid collision and not to overtake. Had he not gone on to the grass then it would have been a bigger shunt, hunt the shunt, maybe.

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

I was somehow baffled when Lauda put the blame squarely on Lewis though.

After looking at the replay footage ten times over, i am of the same opinion as Lauda. The gap there was simply non existent once Rosberg started to cut him short. He should have backed out that very instant.
But he didn't, and as a result he went into the grass and completely lost control and crashed into his teammate. What a waste!

[iceman7]

I think it was a very desperate move by Hamilton yesterday. There was no reason for him to pull such a stunt on the opening lap. There were 66 laps ahead and there could have been ample opportunities for him to make a pass. What a shame this happened, since the Mercedes was looking very strong and could have had a 1-2 finish with maximum points in the bag. What is surprising is that Toto Wolff has been very diplomatic and said that neither Rosberg nor Hamilton is to be blamed.

Anyways, I am happy that this worked perfectly well for the Ferrari's.

[naveenroy]

It was completely Nico's fault. I just cannot understand how he can make a move like that towards Hamilton - knowing that he has the extra pace and is overtaking him. Nico should just let Hamilton overtake him every time. Wonder why Nico doesn't understand that?

[Meccanico]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

It was completely Nico's fault. I just cannot understand how he can make a move like that towards Hamilton - knowing that he has the extra pace and is overtaking him. Nico should just let Hamilton overtake him every time. Wonder why Nico doesn't understand that?

I hope you are being sarcastic!

Nico had a good start and his move to overtake Ham was legal. I think Hamilton definitely played a bigger role in the crash than him. He did not have to go onto the grass just before a hard braking zone. Also, if Rosberg was in a slower engine mode, how did he manage to overtake Hamilton? Going off to track to overtake your team mate is just not reasonable enough.

[ecenandu]

Originally Posted by Meccanico

I hope you are being sarcastic!

Nico had a good start and his move to overtake Ham was legal. I think Hamilton definitely played a bigger role in the crash than him. He did not have to go onto the grass just before a hard braking zone. Also, if Rosberg was in a slower engine mode, how did he manage to overtake Hamilton? Going off to track to overtake your team mate is just not reasonable enough.

The engine power will get reduced during the harvesting, Hamilton in a interview said there will be a reduction of 180 odd bhp. The speed differential between them was 17 kmph at that point, equivalent of having the DRS wing opened.


OT: Do you have any experience in karting? Interesting avatar you got there.

[Meccanico]

Originally Posted by ecenandu

The engine power will get reduced during the harvesting, Hamilton in a interview said there will be a reduction of 180 odd bhp. The speed differential between them was 17 kmph at that point, equivalent of having the DRS wing opened.


OT: Do you have any experience in karting? Interesting avatar you got there.

Thanks for clearing that! That makes sense.


And yes, I do have experience karting. I race in the British Universities Karting Championship (BUKC). I am planning to dedicate a post to it soon!

[avdhesh15]

It was one of the most fantastic races since ages! This is what Formula 1 should be consistently.

Imagine where either of Hamilton or Rosberg would have survived, 99% they would have had a lonely race to win and the actual battle for the lead would have been that of 2nd place. So thanks to Mercedes for allowing their drivers to race and hope nothing changes in the future as well. It just makes a spectacular show.

Max - hats off to you! When most of us are 18, we are busy with such small things compared to what this guy has done. He wouldn't be able to drink the champagne in most places due to being under-age! Fabulous and I see a potential Schumacher in him. Red Bull did the smart thing by putting him in the parent team such that Mercedes, Ferrari etc can't get their hands on him anytime soon. And boy did he deliver.

Ferrari bungled up with Vettel's strategy. There was simply no need to take the extra stop (he only did 2 laps lesser than Max / Kimi) and would have potentially won the race if they had stuck to a 2-stopper. Same for Daniel who would have probably finished on the podium (assuming the puncture didn't happen).

All in all, a fantastic race and hope rest of the year continues like this.

[ecenandu]

There was a spectacular crash in GP2 sprint race, here in Barcelona 2016

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

For people ridiculing Hamilton for going over to the grass to overtake, guys, that was to avoid a crash like the above.

[AJITHAAA]

Ooh, so many Niki Lauda's here. So now we know to which side Mercedes is leaning this year.

[NiInJa]

What a waste for Hamilton ! He should have backed out the moment all four wheels went on the grass (or when it became clear that they would). But isn't that trademark Hamilton ? Aggressive till the last inch of the gap.

And Nico should start playing XBOX or Playstation, these buttons are too fiddly and distracting at times

Anyway, the fact that both were let off without any penalty means everyone is on same page: It was a 'racing' thing, no deliberate efforts by Rosberg to kill Hamilton's race.

[SnS_12]

I think Hamilton had this famous quote of Senna running on his mind:

[autoskooll]

I've been keeping an eye on Verstappen since his inception at Toro Rosso last year. I always knew that he had potential. The RedBull driver program is putting younger and younger drivers into F1 every other season giving a break to some very young talent with the likes of Vettel first. It was Kvyat's bad luck that he had to return to Toro Rosso post the events that unfolded at Sochi. Put Verstappen in a Faster car (Redbull) and even Riciardo was feeling insecure during quail. It was also to the Mercedes Boys' misery on the very first lap that led Verstappen to go on to win the race becoming F1's youngest ever driver to do so. It remains to see if he can smash other "Youngest Ever" titles held by Vettel until now.

[One:1]

An amazing drive by Max. A well Deserved win. It was refreshing to see something different rather than a Mercedes 1-2. Was on the edge of my seat all throughout the race. let's see if Ferrari can play catch up to Mercedes now.