Chinese GP 2010 - Shanghai

[myurr]

The thing that amuses me most about all the outrage this time is that Red Bull in general and Vettel in particular have been involved in more side by side releases in the pitlane than any other team in the last couple of years (from memory). This is the first time that a driver has felt the need to try and force the other into the pit boxes by not giving them room, so the more I think about it the more that Vettel is in the wrong under the current rules.

I do think the rules need changing though, and this is how I would do it:

• Same safe release rules as are currently in place.
  If a driver is released side by side then the driver that is behind should slow to allow the other driver to feed into position.
  If it is too marginal to call who is in front then the driver on the inside, nearest the other pit crews, should give way.
  Following drivers should give way to allow a driver to drop behind another car.
  Drivers should keep as far to the outside of the track as is reasonable to provide joining cars as much room as possible.

[deus1066]

No penalties given:
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2010/04/18/h ... ond-place/

[manchild]

Found an error in wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Schumacher

...Some of Schumacher's best performances occurred in such conditions, earning him the nicknames "Regenkönig" (rain king) or "Regenmeister" (rain master)...

[The Local Ride]

What a mess!

[myurr]

Found an error in wiki:

...Some of Schumacher's best performances occurred in such conditions, earning him the nicknames "Regenkönig" (rain king)[15] or "Regenmeister" (rain master)....

I really dislike Schumacher the man and also a lot of his on track behavior. However it's clear he is suffering from major setup issues this weekend so we're not seeing what he can really do on track.

I think we still need to wait a few more races before we can be too critical - if the car comes to him and his confidence improves then we could see him up there with Rosberg and the others.

If not then we're going to be stuck questioning whether or not it's him or the car, and as the season wears on then it's going to look more and more likely that it's the driver.

[manchild]

Remember - he never announced his comeback as "giving it a try", but as an explicit charge on 8th title.
No one forced him to be such a bigmouth.

No sympathy for the devil.

[Pierre6]

Remember - he never announced his comeback as "giving it a try", but as an explicit charge on 8th title.
No one forced him to be such a bigmouth.

No sympathy for the devil.

Damn right!

[segedunum]

Quite clearly the wrong decision, and the stewards are not able to enforce their own rules on pit lane exit and entry. They will be treated as a joke now.

1. For Hamilton's first stop he realised too late that he wanted to pit, and jumped right across the run off area over the white lines and into the pit lane to avoid having to do another lap.

2. He tried to maintain track position against Vettel by going over the white line and being on the inside of the pit lane at the entry. Vettel clearly had track position there because he was the only one actually in the pit lane.

Ditto for Alonso, except he went a step further and used the corner in the pit lane as an overtaking point.

3. There was nothing wrong with McLaren's pit release. They both came out at the same time but Vettel and Red Bull just beat them to it and had clearly gained the place.

4. Vettel can drive anywhere he likes in the pit lane because, once again, he's the only one in the pit lane - and he's ahead. For Hamilton to come down the inside and almost drive in other teams' pit boxes when the position should clearly have been yielded was just dangerous, plain and simple. Trying to overtake in the pit lane is simply not allowed.

Congratulations to the FIA and the stewards. We all know what will happen at future races and in China next year.

[segedunum]

Absolutely no one should have been penalized, including Alonso (the Slo Mo showed he did not started before red lights went out)

Errrrr, Specsavers?

[komninosm]

I can't understand how some people can be so BIASED here. Here's the Hamilton-Vettel incident:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0IdLYxorq4
This is what really happens:
Vettel makes a move on the outside of Hamilton just as they are about to pit and forces him to take a perhaps illegal line into the pits (this is the only place you could remotely put blame on Hamilton). Then they pit and they are released simultaneously (perhaps Vettel 0.1 sec before) so it not an unsafe release by McLaren (would be lollipop-man's fault not Hamilton's). Vettel simply accelerates faster and overtakes Hamilton (who nearly spins, but that's also an accident not illegal). The the real bad thing happens. For no reason Vettel stupidly and dangerously doesn't go to the left side of the road (near the wall) to avoid the car he is overtaking, he goes on the MIDDLE of the road and then he PUSHES the other car next to him even further! A normal exit from pits goes in the middle of that road, Vettel is side by side with another car and he goes to the right side nearly riding the blue line himself?! WTH?! I liked Vettel, but this was an a$$hole move cause he endangered pit crew. You can clearly see that Hamilton is trying to go behind Vettel (his car is moving a tiny bit slowly with the limiter) and Vettel puts his rear wheel in the McLaren side making it impossible for Hamilton to stop because then his front wheel would collide with Vettel's rear. This is a lot more apparent if you watch the Hamilton on-board camera.

In conclusion Vettel is being an a$$ and you guys are being blind biased hatemongers. How the hell can you not see what really happened? Stop obsessing with your Hamilton-hate.

PS: Hamilton can only be blamed for his other pit entry which was weird and I didn't see it (phone).

[djos]

No penalties given:
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2010/04/18/h ... ond-place/

What a crock, Webber has been given a drive thru for less than that!!! [-X

[vall]

No, I expect him to hit his fuc king brakes. You know, the things that would have gotten him back in the driving lane and out of the pit boxes? He had no advantage over Vettel. Vettel had the advantage over him from the drop of the jack and should have given way. You even confirm this in your own post. End of story.

I see your point with the safety issue, but looking at the incident, I really cant see where Lewis would have went. [/quote]

The comment above says it all, no? He should have braked and lined up behind Vettel, not driving in the blue zone all the way out of the pit.

[segedunum]

I just wonder why certain people feel that Vettel is forcing Hamilton to do anything, but then, that's probably the only defence there is.

Vettel makes a move on the outside of Hamilton just as they are about to pit and forces him to take a perhaps illegal line into the pits

Vettel forces him to do nothing and he makes no move whatsoever. Vettel got proper track position for the pit lane and was actually in it. As simple as. Hamilton's brain perhaps wasn't in gear at that point, who knows, but he should have yielded track position at that point because he wasn't going to enter the pit lane properly.

Then they pit and they are released simultaneously (perhaps Vettel 0.1 sec before) so it not an unsafe release by McLaren (would be lollipop-man's fault not Hamilton's).

Nope, the pit lane release is definitely not wrong by McLaren. That's not an issue.

Vettel simply accelerates faster and overtakes Hamilton (who nearly spins, but that's also an accident not illegal). The the real bad thing happens. For no reason Vettel stupidly and dangerously doesn't go to the left side of the road (near the wall) to avoid the car he is overtaking...

Once again, Vettel forces Hamilton to do nothing. Vettel gets the position quite clearly and then Hamilton thinks he can wander down the outside in the pit boxes where he could have run over anything hoping to gain the position back. The position had gone. Vettel, being the car ahead, can drive where he likes in the pit lane as long as he's in it.

The only correct course of action for Hamilton was to yield, ease off and get back into the pit lane. Easy. It's absolutely cut and dried.

[Moanlower]

Found an error in wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Schumacher

...Some of Schumacher's best performances occurred in such conditions, earning him the nicknames "Regenkönig" (rain king) or "Regenmeister" (rain master)...

I don't see it as an error. He is being called the rain master as well the best driver ever. Whether if thats a fact is something else.


Unfortunately Alonso did jump the lights by a fraction so his penalty was justified and could've been given a bit sooner since it's was a black and white issue. Is was also a matter of time for Alonso to show he's not planning to be Ferrari's or Massa's lapdog. It was on the edge but thats how it goes if you want to win titles and not just hoping to finish the race with an engineer telling you when to push the throttle.

Lewis didn't deserve a penalty for the pitlane incident with Vettel in my opinion. First of all it was the lollypopper who send out Lewis so if there is someone to blame it would be the team and not the driver. The rules on that are also quite vague. They were send out at practically the same time where the difference can only be judged afterwards when seeing the slow motion footage from Vettel's car. There isn't a rule that says Lewis had to back off, neither one that says Vettel is allowed to push Lewis into pit gear.

Great race again from Button and Rosberg who clearly shows Schumacher can only be the best ever if he's driving a superior car in a field which is not quite as competitive as it is today.

[vall]

3. There was nothing wrong with McLaren's pit release. They both came out at the same time but Vettel and Red Bull just beat them to it and had clearly gained the place.

How could they be released at the same time and Vettel was ahead of LH?