2014 F1 SHELL BELGIAN GRAND PRIX: RACE *** SPOILERS ***

Why hasn't anyone pointed out that even if ham had left space for Nico down the inside, there is a right hander immediately after the left hander in which they collided and Ham would have held the inside line for that and therefore still been in front? There was absolutely no way for Nico to make that pass stick at that point in the lap. Whichever way you cut it this is a racing incident that didn't need to happen and the man with the obligation to ensure it didn't happen was Nico. He takes the majority of the blame. End of.

 

Today, Kimi was clearly the faster of the two. The stop and go is just 5 seconds added to the pitstop time so nothing as bad as it used to be. Kimi was around 2 seconds behind him during the first round of pitstops, obviously jumped ahead and when both where running on the same tire and both in clear air, Kimi was much faster. He set a string of fastest laps today.

 

Nico just admitted that he could have avoided contact with Lewis but hit him "to prove a point". I expect the fit to hit the shan over this!!

 

Great race today. Mercedes were the actual joke of the day for both drivers. Nico for being stupid and LH whining to quit and 'save the motor'. Didnt miss either as the racing without them was the gem of the day.

Daniel is the driver of the year no matter which Mercedes drama candidate wins the title. CLASS act he is! GO Daniel

 

To expand on my last post, if Nico could have avoided contact and chose not to, then isn't that the very definition of "avoidable contact"? I think so. Expect an FIA penalty of 20 - 40 seconds added to Rosberg's finishing position; that's my guess.

 

all I can say is:

I want Bottas at Ferrari!

 

I doubt Nico's comments were taken out of context. I bet that meeting got really heated and in a moment of pure anger... when honestly usually shows its face... Nico blurted out the truth of what he did. I don't think anyone honestly believes that Toto is going to come out and say Nico intentionally hit Lewis. Not in a million years.

It's another Nico event where we'll never know the real truth. Considering the obstacles Lewis has faced.. we'll never know the real truth about what the team is doing either.

I'm not a super fan of either guys. I just want want championships to be decided on the track with clean racing, both cars working evenly and what not.

 

I didn't need him to admit this. It was blatantly obvious.

 

OF course Nico didn't deliberatly hit Hamilton. The problem is, he caused the situation in which a crash could happen and he failed to prevent it.

 

I'm really curious about this as well. Given Nico's comments... Wolf's clear damage control comentary... I'm wondering if they really will look into it. I've re-watched it now a bunch of times and I honestly can't see where Lewis had any responsibility to give way. It was clearly a bad move... intentional or not...by Nico, similar to the pass he tried to make on Vettel and blew the corner. He's not an pack racer by any means. It doesn't appear that he has the skill , nuts, or whatever to rip through the field like Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton, or hell... even Bottas.

 

No penalty - Racing incident-- F1 News - F1 Belgian Grand Prix: Rosberg refuses to take blame

 

Won't happen with these two, sadly. There's no other way for them to beat one another consistently based on pure speed as they are smart enough to know the tiniest of uncontrollable variables in the car could give one or the other the slightest of advantages, and that's all it takes. This WDC will be won by the driver who is the dirtiest, and that is unfortunately the only way it can be done with these two. Mercedes will step in and probably put in place very strict team orders now about the two of them racing and what is or is not allowed, but I'm not sure any of that will pan out very well. That being said, Mercedes brought this upon themselves by hiring both fire and lightning as their drivers in the most dominant car in nearly 30 years, what did they think was going to happen.

 

+1 and the best racing is behind the drama twins. After today I could not really care for Mercedes. GO Daniel!

 

I suppose thats true. Alonso was ahead at the time of the penalty though. It will be back to the status quo again at Monza

 

Indeed it was. Doubting a driver of Nico's level wasn't fully aware of what he was doing is foolish. After Vettel's nonsense last year and rewatching all other questionable maneuvers made by outstanding drivers over the years I've come to the conclusion that that's who these guys have to be to get the edge over uncontrollable circumstances, they have to in essence be a circumstance so they have some form of control, as bad as it is.

 

+1 Kimi was great today. I expect FA to be on the best game in Monza.

 

He didnt "hit him" to prove a point, he "held his line" to prove a point. There is a difference.

I dont really care who the WDC goes to, and Im not a fan of either driver. But man, there are a LOT of butthurt people on this forum today! Im just sitting back with popcorn in hand

 

Right.... Nico intentionally hit Hamilton, knowing that most likely his wing would be destroyed (as happens in 90% of these cases).

Makes perfect sense.

 

Yup. Agreed. Nico pulled a Senna. Held his line and let the other guy decide. It was dirty but that's every champion ever at some point or another. Moving on

 

After today, Ham has to put himself ahead of the team. From what we know, the majority of Intel data flow is from Ham to to Nico. Ham is clearly the more naturally fast driver and Nico uses his data to improve his performance. Turn the data tap off Ham and choke the German.

 

Yup true, although the gap was small (just a car in between them and Kimi driving every bit as hard on his best track).

I think you're right on the last bit. Rather, I'd be surprised if Alonso isn't ahead there as he has been all season. I'd like to think that Raikkonen is somewhat waxing with the car now and will have a better 2nd half of the season.

 

Given what James Allison said about the development they cannot do for Kimi's problems, its time for Kimi to move on and make it work somehow. Today was a good start.

 

The funny thing is that when Hamilton was doing it back in 2011, the board was in a severe uproar. Like Is said, if it's your driver it's all fair and good. If the other guy is your driver, then a horrible crime has been committed.

I agree that Hamilton needs to drive like he did in 2011 to have a shot at this thing. To hell with public perception and being a "gentleman driver" if someone punches you in the mouth, eviscerate him. Clearly neither the team nor the FIA will handle the issue for him.

 

Damn straight. Agreed on all parts.

 

Nico clearly has an idea of how push the LH buttons. He is the cooler of the 2 on the surface. LH asked to retire rather than do what he is paid for. He has no motor penalty coming. Sad for both but happy to see Daniel at Redbull take the win.

LH and Nico are seeing class and skill at work and should learn a thing or 2 from Ricciardo!