[WraithApe]

Hamilton seems really talented at pulling the rabbit out when he most needs it. The Max factor should be bagfuls of entertainment in the starting laps.Here's hoping he trods over Vettel again

The SCUD must really be scratching their heads right now with Merc getting on top of the tyre thing overnight.

I wonder if Arrivebene will have his finger on the "Kimi, brake fail" button tomorrow. I for one would love to see Kimi get at least one outright win this season. Whatever Norse god oversees motorsport seems to have forsaken him.

That would be Tyr

 

[Hutnicks]

That would be Tyr

Ha, putting Aririvebene squarely in the role of Fenrir then?

Could be an episode of American Gods in there somewhere

 

[jimmers]

Looking like Merc solved the tyre issues in a big way.!

Looking like Merc solved the tyr issues in a big way.

 

[oqvist]

Poor kimi

 

[WraithApe]

Poor FI. LOL @ Vettel, losing his rag. Ridiculous race... strangely fascinating though.

 

[oqvist]

Amaaaazing race. Who on earth said Baku was booring

 

[jimmers]

Now, poor Hamilton - I've had enough, going to bed, it's 00:48 hrs here.

 

[oqvist]

Amazing race by far best of the season. Seem to be some truth in the rumour about merc having an extra oil tank to use as fuel for qualifying modes. Ferrari even with old engines had quite some pace. Nice to see the Honda doing so well in drag race with the Sauber. Even a point scoring. But it pretty much takes that half the fields get out of the race lol.

Seemed to be nobody but Stroll that didn´t have some issues with the car or anything. Though I just can´t fathom how Bottas could take so much time on the finish straight must been Stroll that used all battery power before the finish straight and Bottas had plenty to spare. Or engaging oil tank mode . Also Lewis that couldn´t keep up with Vettel seem to find some pace the last lap or two.

Got to love Vettel. Surely wants this WC hard enough. Maybe he was so into the red mist he didn´t even realize the shunt. He looked complete mad after the red flag

 

[Hutnicks]

Poor FI. LOL @ Vettel, losing his rag. Ridiculous race... strangely fascinating though.

Wonderfully ridiculous though. Everything but the weather came into play here. Hammer shut out by a headrest, now that has to be a first. Vettel completely losing it. He should have had at least a 30 second penalty if not a black flag over that one. No way can anyone argue it was not deliberate. I wonder if there be bad blood brewing up for this years WDC?

FI showing their lack of expertise at strategy again here. Newbies to the front of the pack just have no clue how to manage the two cars in the race. I can see Vijay hanging out a "Help Wanted" sign tomorrow. Monisha comes immediately to mind If they had a brain on the pit wall it would have been a vastly different race overall.

Not a Stroll fan but by gawd he did do the job and capitalized on every opportunity. I almost felt bad when Bottas pipped him at the end. Way to go for Valteri picking up the colours and charging through the masses to keep the tripoint from having an utter disaster of a race.

Engine mapping???????? Really????? Sure Renault, it must all be in the mapping. Either they had the worst software engineers on the planet before or something else is afoot. That motor looked way more competitive down the long bits today. Perhaps they found the second oil tanks the SCUD had to get rid of behind the garage or something.

Ric on the top step at last. Good on him. Max rapidly becoming the Kimi of Dead Bull. He must be hugely po'd by now.

Nice to see things get shaken up once in a while. Reminds me of the 70's and 80's where the grids were larger and just about anyone could win a race given the right circumstances.

And lets not forget the milestone of 2 McLaren's finishing a race and one of them in the points no less.

2 or 3 more races like this one and the WDC could take on a whole new complexion. Too much to hope for though.

 

[WraithApe]

Poor FI. LOL @ Vettel, losing his rag. Ridiculous race... strangely fascinating though.

Wonderfully ridiculous though. Everything but the weather came into play here. Hammer shut out by a headrest, now that has to be a first. Vettel completely losing it. He should have had at least a 30 second penalty if not a black flag over that one. No way can anyone argue it was not deliberate. I wonder if there be bad blood brewing up for this years WDC?

Yeah, I wrote that just after the red flag, and 3 successive safety cars, which was getting farcical! I hate to agree with E.J., but the red flag paved the way to giving us a great race! Basically; it delivered the carnage we were hoping for from Baku's narrow street circuit last year! I thought Vettel got off lightly. If there is any grey area in the regs regarding the incident (i.e. if the lead car was deemed to be brake-testing rather than controlling the pace, which is its remit), there certainly isn't about riding up alongside another car and bumping into it! Vettel seemed to be suggesting that he got the penalty for running into the back of Hamilton, and if he was penalized then Ham should have been as well, but it was obviously for the reprisal. Could be some bad blood brewing. The post-race interviews were quite amusing, with Vettel suggesting that his second action was them "dealing with the situation like men", or words to that effect, and Hamilton responding if he wants to sort it out like men, to do it off the track! Offering him out? Sounded a bit like it! Apparently FIA analysis of telemetry data from Hamilton's car showed no evidence that he was brake-testing anyway; more likely Vettel snoozing, then venting his frustration. He still finished 2 points ahead, but that seemed like a bit of a Pyrrhic victory after what happened.

 

[jimmers]

...The post-race interviews were quite amusing, with Vettel suggesting that his second action was them "dealing with the situation like men", or words to that effect, and Hamilton responding if he wants to sort it out like men, to do it off the track! Offering him out? Sounded a bit like it! ...d.

Seeing Lewis was a Karate black belt when he was younger and has been doing Muay Thai training - I'd like to see that

 

[Hutnicks]

Yeah, I wrote that just after the red flag, and 3 successive safety cars, which was getting farcical! I hate to agree with E.J., but the red flag paved the way to giving us a great race! Basically; it delivered the carnage we were hoping for from Baku's narrow street circuit last year! I thought Vettel got off lightly. If there is any grey area in the regs regarding the incident (i.e. if the lead car was deemed to be brake-testing rather than controlling the pace, which is its remit), there certainly isn't about riding up alongside another car and bumping into it! Vettel seemed to be suggesting that he got the penalty for running into the back of Hamilton, and if he was penalized then Ham should have been as well, but it was obviously for the reprisal. Could be some bad blood brewing. The post-race interviews were quite amusing, with Vettel suggesting that his second action was them "dealing with the situation like men", or words to that effect, and Hamilton responding if he wants to sort it out like men, to do it off the track! Offering him out? Sounded a bit like it! Apparently FIA analysis of telemetry data from Hamilton's car showed no evidence that he was brake-testing anyway; more likely Vettel snoozing, then venting his frustration. He still finished 2 points ahead, but that seemed like a bit of a Pyrrhic victory after what happened.

I think more likely it was a case of an over eager Vettel trying to spool up the engine for a jump on a restart. Not wanting to let Hammer get more than a whisker away. He got caught out and started attempting to lay blame up front. In the NBC interview with Buxton he completely danced around driving into the side of Hamilton and would not answer the question about that even when Buxton put it directly to him. He kept deflecting to the "Brake Check"

In any other series from Karting to F2 he'd have gotten the black flag instantly. After his f you charlie radio outbursts last year I thought Whiting would make an example of him. As it stands the picture he is painting of himself is not a pretty one and I suspect the tighter the championship race gets the uglier he will be. Pity as he has made some effort of the last year or so to become more personable and shuck of Bernies "Worst World Champion" moniker.

I wonder if his fuse will be snuffed out after reviewing the footage of the incident. "Hey see that red car with it's nose cone stuck in the sidepod of the Merc at 30 degrees? That's you dummy!"

Sort it out in the parking lot indeed If Carey had the smarts he'd set up a ring match with the two of them and make it a between races event for charity or something. Could probably get 250 a ticket and sell out Wembly with people willing to watch Lew in boxing shorts beat the snot out of "Schumi Light" The warm up event can be Perez and Ocon in greco roman wrestling

The SC issue needs to get handled and really I have to agree with Lew that with just debris on track a VSC would have been the way to go. Up until of course there was enough of the debris to warrant the red flag. The downside of this hybrid circuit I suppose is that the tight bits are brutally difficult to marshal when things get messy . I would not want to be the poor sod running out there to pick up pieces while the cars were on track.

 

[oqvist]

Vettel wasn't the only one having issue with Lewis abrupt slowing down though it sure looked like a semi brake check to me. Dangerous driving you could say but smooth enough to get away with it. Penalty was right he didn't damage Lewis car and no places gained f1 is not gentlemanna racing. He got a penalty costing him an easy win if he would just keep his cool better. I think its ridiculous how the drivers play politics trying to steer the race stewards to their favour . Hamilton would be the first to call for a sc had he been chasing Vettel everybody know that. Alonso is another hopeless driver in this regards.

 

[Hutnicks]

Any driver will use whatever tool is available to him to make an advantage. The limit is causing damage willfully to another car. In this regard there is no excuse for Vettels behaviour. Following too closely is a standard no no from drivers ed classes up to the top tiers of competition. 4 time in the WDC seat should mean you have car control and expecting someone to accelerate does not implicitly carry the obligation for them to do so. Vettel mangled the diffuser on Hamiltons car and only the rudest of optimists would not make the connection between his side impact on the Merc and the dislodged headrest on that side..

The stewards need to get their act together and stop playing politics themselves. If it had been a back marker who did that to Hamilton he'd be serving a race ban at the very least. If anything a multi (21)WDC winner should be held to a higher standard and not a lesser one. In this instance Vettel essentially got off with no penalty and certainly benefited from punting Hamilton twice.

I dearly hope they can get Max's car into enough shape for him to go head to head with Seb. The kids got enough smarts and moxie to take it right back to him and then some.

 

[oqvist]

I don't see how the headrest getting loose is related to that. Not even Toto suggest that. As you say damage do play a part (only the brake check caused damage) but it was Vettel loosing out more due to getting penalized. Maldo of course has done a similar thing but actually causing damage without getting race bans. I think they are consistent.