[motorworks]

First things first, this track is needlessly dangerous! Just so many blind corners! Leave aside the fact that it is the 2nd fastest track and all that, but why does it need to have so many blind corners? And on top of that it’s extremely narrow in a few places! Sure, overtaking is possible at the start straight, but I’m not sure if this is a track that would give us good racing, just a lot of incidents and unpredictable grid shakeup maybe.

Second, Redbull are clearly on the back foot. Mercedes have clearly found that extra performance over the last 3-4 races and is now absolutely faster than the Redbull. And this is showing in the desperation of Redbull and Max. Up until a few races ago, Max was this relaxed racer who reflected an image that he didn’t really care if he won the championship or not. And that’s because he was leading comfortably. Now that Mercedes have upped their pace and Redbull clearly don’t have an answer, the desperation seems to have crept in.

I’m neither a fan of Max and nor Lewis ( I’m still one of those old school Ferrari fans hoping the red cars come back to the front someday ), but if what max did was wrong in Saudi Arabia, then Hamilton and Mercedes are not saints as well. Hamilton was clearly at fault at Silverstone and got away with it. Mercedes did make Bottas slow down Max during the Saudi Grand Prix, so it’s all being done from both sides. The big difference here was that Max was a bit too obviously aggressive, and two incidents in a race would surely not be ignored that easily. Did Max deliberately cause the braking incident with Lewis? Nope. He surely did not want Lewis to ram in to his rear, it could have caused a lot of damage to his car too, but he surely was trying to be manipulative of where to let Lewis pass, just before the DRS zone, so he can pass him quickly. Was Lewis probably aware of this? Yes! Absolutely yes! But Lewis too did not anticipate this sudden braking move, he was probably just thinking Max is slowing down just before the DRS zone and didn’t want to pass him.

Anyway, enough said about this race, I’m sort of hoping RBR win the championship so that they break the Mercedes run, but that’s the only reason, else both Mercedes and Red Bull have been equally nasty this year!

[Samir Taheer]

Originally Posted by motorworks

the desperation seems to have crept in.

The big difference here was that Max was a bit too obviously aggressive, and two incidents in a race would surely not be ignored that easily. Did Max deliberately cause the braking incident with Lewis? Nope. He surely did not want Lewis to ram in to his rear, it could have caused a lot of damage to his car too, but he surely was trying to be manipulative of where to let Lewis pass, just before the DRS zone, so he can pass him quickly. Was Lewis probably aware of this? Yes! Absolutely yes! But Lewis too did not anticipate this sudden braking move, he was probably just thinking Max is slowing down just before the DRS zone and didn’t want to pass him.

https://thesportsrush.com/f1-news-wh...di-arabian-gp/

When Dr Marko says - Red Bull’s motorsport advisor Marko was furious with the decision in the immediate aftermath of this event. He said that his team had proof which would show the stewards that Max was innocent.

However, Marko has since apologized for saying that. He took back his words and admitted that he was wrong.

I guess this closes the chapter on who was wrong????

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by Samir Taheer

However, Marko has since apologized for saying that. He took back his words and admitted that he was wrong.

I guess this closes the chapter on who was wrong????

Now that’s talking

The team definitely will want to win the title in a clean or honourable way but Max doesn’t seem to be the type (from his driving displays so far) and inspite of all the talks etc he will be the one doing the driving. That could be a problem.

Let’s see, can’t wait for the finale. Most exiting last race of the world championship for a long, long time.

Cheers

[suhaas307]

I guess after Max's antics on Sunday, I must concede that he was driving dirty.

Regarding the brake-checking incident - it clearly appears he was trying to get into the DRS detection zone and was a bit too close to it and so, he braked hard. I do not think that it was brake-checking at all. Even Lewis knows this all too well (as admitted by him later), and so does Mercedes. Neither of them wanted to find themselves behind the other as they passed that detection zone.

In fact, Mercedes and Lewis including Bottas were playing quite dirty throughout, only in a polished manner so as to be perceived clean. Bottas holding up Max during the safety car and what not. And of course, Lewis whining about tyre changes under the red flag when he himself benefitted from a tyre change and a full repair job earlier this year under red-flag conditions. The worst was him whining about why it shouldn't have been a red-flag in the first place!

Max, on the other hand, needs a proper telling off for his antics. The problem is he is surrounded by Horner, Marko and his dad who keep feeding him with nonsense and pretty much allow him drive like a douchebag with impunity.

I hope he does not try such antics in Abu Dhabi and win the race as a consequence of such actions. That would sour this title fight quite a bit. And even if he does not win, he needs to realize that he has a long way to go, and live to fight another day.

[Chetan_Rao]

One of the tecpro barriers was reportedly found punctured on inspection for the in-race incident, and would need a crane trackside to lift the section out, hence the delayed red flag.

The Merc pitwall questioning the delay is understandable, as nobody except the marshals doing the inspecting would've known until race control were notified, and Merc would be looking at it from a strategy impact perspective.

What I find cringeworthy, is the commentary feed from Sky Sports F1. Martin Brundle at least tries to be objective, but David Croft is just unbearable these days. A shame really, because he was great back in the day when he covered the non-race sessions for BBC Radio. Now it seems like he feels obliged to side with Hamilton just because they're homeboys from Stevenage.

His nudge-nudge wink-wink insinuations about foul play around the red flag situation, and how he kept on his 'just asking questions' charade about tire changes under red flag conditions, even after Brundle pointed out several times it's perfectly legal under regulations and Hamilton himself has benefitted just this season (and over his career) from it, that was disgusting.

Commentators having an opinion and preference is understandable, but they should be required to be objective in presenting facts.

Never thought I'd say this, but I'd gladly take Steve Slater back at this point.

[mp417]

Some data based analysis clarifies what happened when both collided.

https://youtu.be/YZmBcQz457Q