Leave it to the Formula 1 stewardship to ruin what would otherwise be the most thrilling conclusion to a race in years. The question this now infamous tale of tape raises for me is, how much more ground do you cede to a guy you just jumped a chicane on? Two car lengths? Three car lengths?
This is why we get up at 4:30 in the AM, folks (well, I have to admit I nodded off on the couch after the first few circuits only to be jolted awake moments before the finish by the sounds of James Allen having a bird - how apoplectic would old Muzza have been?)
Gridcrasher has the viddies from the other tight racing over the weekend. Helio and Jimmie edge Dixon and Stewart, respectively. Told ya Jimmie's gonna be money in the playoffs. And are the cracks showing in Number 18 or what?
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2 comments:
I disagree with the commenter on the video, and some of my disagreement might be explained away as me being a Ferrari fan first and foremost.
But I think the big problem was that Hamilton DID gain an advantage by cutting the chicane. At least a car length relative to Raikkonen, and keeping momentum that he would not have had. Sure he let off a little to let Raikkonen by (barely), but that did not give up the advantage that he gained over what he would have had following Kimi through the chicane.
As for the 'double move' that Kimi did, I put that down to more a 'whoa! is he still right there!' move.
Hamilton did do a great job holding the inside so that Kimi couldn't get the outside-inside move on him. And Kimi did totally blow it later that lap in the wet.
It's obvious that Lewis was faster late in the race. It's obvious that Kimi was slowing and having trouble with the car. But to me, Lewis DID gain an advantage by cutting the chicane, which he did not give up. That's what he was penalized for.
I do think the Racing-Live commentary about The Death of Passing may be more spot on, but primarily from the 'you cause a wreck, you get super penalized' point of view. Noone likes to see their guy get taken out. But if you put some zone of no encroachment around the cars, then you get rid of wheel to wheel racing. Granted, I always think F1 is more exciting than the 'close action' of Sprint Cup (the 20 and 48 running lap after lap side by side was really not that exciting), but if the drivers are too afraid of being penalized if someone drives in on them, they'll just wait. Of course, the other extreme is Heikki diving under Webber with a stupid move, and spinning him out. That stuff SHOULD be penalized, because it's not a well-judged move. The question is where is the line?
To prevent it in the future, maybe put up some staggered tire walls to delineate the track, like they used to on the Champ Car street circuits.
Yeah, I've always wondered why more blatant acts of idiocy don't seem to get penalized, particularly if they affect guys further down the grid. Webber could down in history as one of the most cursed drivers in the sport. The guy is magnet for getting booted.
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