[Karvel]

Originally Posted by clementw

Will never understand the speeds of these cars, how after a pit stop and penalty, Hamilton works his way up and over takes the leader also. I mean they are racing there, its not like every other car is on an easy lap, how is it possible that one driver alone is able to do this???
It was painful to see Lewis just casually sweeping by the leader who was not Max.

Actually it was only about 11 secs added to the overall timing. By combining the tyre charge with the penalty, the enormity of the penalty was managed. If at all the penalty was to be executed, say within next three laps after announcement of the verdict or no tyre change allowed, then it would not have been feasible for Ham to overtake the race lead with such ease - either the tyres would have not supported or would have to had another pit stop to change tyres.

So it was a slim chance.

[Emvi]

While Lewis Hamilton is undoubtedly one of the all time greats, I also assume not many would disagree that Max is definitely a future multiple champion in making. Racing incident or not, as racing fans I believe most of us don't wish to see neither of them crashing out in the first lap like Max did unfortunately. As already pointed out in the thread, I don't think it was a deliberate ploy from Hamilton, it was more of a wheel to wheel stuff going wrong. Fans on respective sides will have divided opinions about the incident, which is understandable. Over aggressive manoeuvres look spectacular when pulled off cleanly, when they go wrong, there's bound to be outrage from opposite corners. Well, long and interesting racing season lies ahead.

[ZenMaster]

No clue why RB pitted Perez. They should have left him out on the hard tyre and he could have easily cruised at least upto Carlos Sainz when everyone else pitted. I don't think sacrificing his (average) race and a couple of extra points for the Team in order to take away one from Lewis was the best decision in the long run. Especially considering the Both the Mercs finished on the Podium. Perez needs to figure out his Race starts. That's where he is losing most.

Only if Ferrari hadn't messed up Sainz's pitstop, he would have been fighting with Norris instead of being stuck behind Ricciardo. Have to say, Ferrari got their money's worth and more with Sainz. His Sprint was destroyed by Russel. Otherwise he would have started at 5th or 6th.

[bmw_lover]

Originally Posted by shibujp

The sprint itself to me was a damp squid. Firstly after the first few laps of action, it turned out to be a mini F1 race like we are used to with teams evaluating pros and cons to decide how far to push man and machine in the sprint. That is where it's failed in my opinion.

Another aspect is that it devalued the importance of qualifying and pole. Having pole previously was a big thing in terms of the risk vs rewards ratio..
All the superhuman effort that Hamilton put into to eke out pole by 75 milliseconds is now put to naught.

I am not a fan of the new format.

Absolutely true. Also with cars starting with less fuel for the sprint and drivers at their freshest, cars were considerably faster in the sprint race which was visually very exciting when compared to the actual race. And also the sprint format comes with the risk of providing too much racing which took a bit of sheen away from the actual race for me.

BTW did anyone noticed the fire coming out from Max's front left tyre on the grid in the main race. That was some awesome James Bond stuff and great aggression by Max..

[akash_v12]

An interesting race to say the least!

51G Impact for Max is comparatively very high as compared to the rest of the accidents & incidents. To put it into perspective, IIRC, Grosjean had a 67G crash last year in Bahrain. So hefty enough. Now that that's cleared off, let's continue.

Lap 1: Lewis is P1, Max P2. Max headed into the first corner with a slightly better start than Lewis. But, Lewis ensured to be aggressive enough as Max. They remained side-by-side through the old pit straight, and by the end, there was a bit of confusion regarding the drivers' position.

But, after seeing the footage about 30-40 times, I reached this conclusion: As they arrived at Copse, Max lifted off slightly as seen in the footage, possibly to take the inside line into Copse. Here, Lewis, seeing the gap, possibly understood that with Max lifting off, he might have been looking to do a switchback, which didn't happen and instead, Max moved in. At this point, Lewis couldn't possibly have enough time to hold off and give way to Verstappen. This is my very neutral takeaway and now writing this, I'll put it as a racing incident. Until, this was intentional (which I don't think it was), that's my best bet.

Overall, good race except Max's incident. Fantastic drive from Leclerc though, the pace that Ferrari had on mediums was commendable. Pity, he lost the race in the final 4 laps.
Norris, Ricciardo, Bottas, Sainz, Alonso had good races. Vettel possibly could have had a fantastic race if he hadn't spun out on Lap 4. The Aston's had great pace.

What, in my opinion was wrong is Hamilton's behaviour. Carrying the flag, smiling high, rushing into the crowd without a mask. Yes sure, he might not have been told that Max was at the hospital, then I'm fine with it. The big thing was the racism, I'm sorry to say this, but people got too personal with this, it's racing and let's move on. Racism is not acceptable.

FIA has been very inconsistent with the penalties. Pushing a driver off in such a manner that the driver cannot compete in a race, hopefully deserved a more severe penalty. If they can give a 10-second drive-through penalty for Lewis' pit-lane entry whilst it was closed at Monza last year, 10-seconds for Tsunoda crossing the pit-lane line twice, 10-seconds for Perez pushing off Leclerc twice, not amounting to Leclerc' race ending.

[Turbohead]

Originally Posted by ZenMaster

No clue why RB pitted Perez. They should have left him out on the hard tyre and he could have easily cruised at least upto Carlos Sainz when everyone else pitted. I don't think sacrificing his (average) race and a couple of extra points for the Team in order to take away one from Lewis was the best decision in the long run. Especially considering the Both the Mercs finished on the Podium. Perez needs to figure out his Race starts. That's where he is losing most.

Hiring a person with specific skills and not utilising that is what has happened. It should have been a one stop race for Perez. They made it 3. Terrible tire strategy from RB and they lost sight of the constructors for Max's sake which was just plain stupid in every way since Max has higher chances of taking home the points compared to Perez who still isn't completely comfortable.

I feel it for Leclerc! The dude was doing a phenomenal job. Bottas was doing pretty well and seems to be eyeing another team in case he's layed off.

Russell continues to be Mr. Saturday. Not Lando's week either considering how gifted he is.

The future is going to be exciting with Leclerc, Lando, Russell and Max. Only if the cars are equally competitive.

[akshay380]

About time someone spoke to Max in a language he understands. Until now he gave others option of either crash or back off and they choose the later, including Lewis in their previous encounters. Max will know what to expect when going into this situation next time.

[CrossLife]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

These guys are not primed to give way and of course normally will always blame the other for a close call like this one. I feel Max should have expected Hamilton to not yield and given himself room rather than try to barge through, it was only the first lap.
Cheers

You said it. Max should have not cut across like that.

[mayankk]

Like I said, a bully, or maybe just a feeling of privilege. And this is without the red mist of a race, that too of the first lap. I'm finally glad he's got called out finally.

https://youtu.be/2QJTAVnaLRI

[corvus corax]

a bully, or maybe just a feeling of privilege

https://youtu.be/EHBgQw5OecA

https://youtu.be/rlJBNZGmmrk

I'm finally glad he's got called out

[TheDarkKnight]

What an eventful race! Certainly would spice up the season going forward.

On the Max - Lewis incident, I had read a excerpt from Horner from Spain this year which also saw Max and Lewis fight it out for the lead.

Below is what Christian Horner was quoted saying after the race.

“Turn 1 was mega. I mean Max, that was full Max Verstappen – he was just going for it – and he positioned the car fantastically well,” said Horner after the Spanish GP. “He tucked in, he got a little bit of a tow and a bit of momentum. And yeah he just braked later and ran the car wide. Thankfully Lewis had got out of it because otherwise he would have ended up in the fence,” he added.

From what I understand, this was similar to what happened on Sunday as well, and as we saw in Spain, Max and Redbull expected Lewis to back out of it. As also from Saturday’s Sprint, Lewis decided he wasn’t going to back out every time, and let Max take the position.

To me, it was a racing incident and could’ve been avoided by both of them.

Cheers,
TheDarkKnight

[DevilzzzzOwn]

What an eventful race.. Enough said about Ham Max so not going there.

Might I bring to notice something else. There is a new nickname I think Leclerc deserves. HBK {Heart Break Kid}(Shawn Michaels - Wrestling). Controlled the race beautifully. Stuck to the lap times and team strategy. Then the shock of engine cutting off. And finally Ham gets to breeze past.

Such a shame. He's shown time and time again that he deserves to fight on the sharp end. Alas, the car's letting him down. And a few genuine mistakes. But gotta love the humility. And the resolve. And how quickly he's learning. If Ver is to be a multi year WDC, he better have an answer for Lec. And Lan too. And Rus too.

This new generation is giving me the motivation to watch F1 for another decade.

[sameerpb]

Originally Posted by DevilzzzzOwn

What an eventful race.. Enough said about Ham Max so not going there.

Might I bring to notice something else. There is a new nickname I think Leclerc deserves. HBK {Heart Break Kid}(Shawn Michaels - Wrestling). Controlled the race beautifully. Stuck to the lap times and team strategy. Then the shock of engine cutting off. And finally Ham gets to breeze past.

Such a shame. He's shown time and time again that he deserves to fight on the sharp end. Alas, the car's letting him down. And a few genuine mistakes. But gotta love the humility. And the resolve. And how quickly he's learning. If Ver is to be a multi year WDC, he better have an answer for Lec. And Lan too. And Rus too.

This new generation is giving me the motivation to watch F1 for another decade.

Loved the way Lec and Lan drove so well and that's next generation. We see lot of friendly comments and warmth amongst drivers which is the best part. I am sure they will take F1 to next level. Last few year it was monotonous. I did not watched many races in 2019 and 20. But 2021 is exciting and see passion for f1 races. BTW my daughter who is 16 year old is loving F1 and in fact just 30 mins before race we spoke that Ham and Max would have accident and Lec will lead a race.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by sameerpb

in fact just 30 mins before race we spoke that Ham and Max would have accident and Lec will lead a race.

Please watch more races together and prophesize such…and maybe Leclerc to win a race or two

[AutoConsultant]

Originally Posted by Turbohead

Hiring a person with specific skills and not utilising that is what has happened. It should have been a one stop race for Perez. They made it 3. Terrible tire strategy from RB and they lost sight of the constructors for Max's sake which was just plain stupid in every way since Max has higher chances of taking home the points compared to Perez who still isn't completely comfortable.

Originally Posted by ZenMaster

No clue why RB pitted Perez. They should have left him out on the hard tyre and he could have easily cruised at least upto Carlos Sainz when everyone else pitted. I don't think sacrificing his (average) race and a couple of extra points for the Team in order to take away one from Lewis was the best decision in the long run. Especially considering the Both the Mercs finished on the Podium. Perez needs to figure out his Race starts. That's where he is losing most.

Bottas, who has had his fare share of bad luck till now, is still ahead of Perez right now. He is a superior 2nd driver and with Perez's inconsistencies, I feel RB doesn't have much hope of getting the WCC. That's why I feel it makes sense to take that 1 point away from Ham. This season, RB's total focus is on WDC and may be they can try for the WCC next year.