Of course it wasn't on purpose, but that hardly means Seb. gets to be blamed for handing over the title when Charles' mistake was that much more beneficial to the Merc.
52 of 53 laps........................................................................... Perez gets to keep his point..... Image Unavailable, Please Login
Except if you're Verstappen at the Red Bull track... Anyway, this time was Leclerc's fault but I don't think this kind of actions should be penalized at the start. It seems that we just didn't have the pace. Without loosing one car and with a good start we could have played some tactics, but saving a 2nd place was OK.
Max got a taste of his own medecine, and he doesn't like it. What a surprise ! Well done Leclerc for standing his ground.
Vettel very lucky there ! Crutchlow did the same at a MotoGP not so long ago and incurred a time penalty that ruined his race.
That's an unrealistic analysis IMHO - the jump start was a mistake, but the Ferrari did not have the racing pace of the Mercedes anyway; even the second place was helped by (for once) a questionable strategy from Mercedes, calling Hamilton to the pit too early for his first stop - otherwise it would have probably been a Mercedes 1-2. And the world title has been promised to Mercedes long ago. Actually Leclerc's mistake was more detrimental to the results, not that it particularly matters at this stage of the season.
Completely agree , We have to see the big picture since the summer break , Binotto is building a very strong team with a contender car for next year . But everything right now isn't perfect though and to beat this Mercedes team we NEED to be perfect on every side. Next year pirellis with a larger operating window could be a big help for us .
The only thing worth watching in this boring race today was the sight of LeClerc demonstrating his ever improving racecraft. The guy showed us all today that he has the skills to overtake in an era where you really don’t see much overtaking skill in any of them. Elton once again demonstrated that without a car advantage, he really isn’t any better than Seb or anyone else. Charles is showing every weekend now that he is the real deal, a proper prospect, and I think for Seb, this is unfortunately a sign that the need for ferrari to have him there as a team leader is genuinely over, next year, even as a Seb fan, I have to say that we need Seb to move on or retire gracefully and get a true number two into the second car behind Charles to do the job bottles does at Mercedes for us - rear gunning for Charles, allow the pit lane to produce just the one strategy for Charles and not two ‘winning’ strategies for drivers that both feel ferrari need them as number one ultimately to only ever serve to piss one or both off Max moaning race long about Charles tagging him in the second corner - sorry max, tough ****, you put yourself on the outside of a car at a point where the tyres are still a little cold and hence you must have realised unless you were going to fly past, you were almost certain to have to either move over or get tagged.... how many times have you done that to others and got away with it. You moan almost as much as Elton when it works against you, and keep your mouth firmly shut when you do it to others..... karma Maxine, karma!
Leclercs penalty and Ferrari fine 15-second penalty for Leclerc. 5 for the incident with Max and 10 for continuing to drive with an unsafe car. Also 2 penalty points and €25.000 for Ferrari. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thank you Japan. Onwards to Mexico. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Absolutely spot on ! Charles is warning others drivers how hard he is when racing , He will benefit big gains because of that in the future.
And the fix goes in regardless of Mercedes getting their team title ........ what a farce. Now drivers have to anticipate whether they momentarily lose downforce or they face sanction...... you can’t make this ******** up from the stewards. What idiots they really are. And of course, bits flying off are supposed now to be caught in your spare hand rather than allowed to be lost from the car just in case they hit something else. Boo boo Elton, moaning works again for the cheating little turd. Next they will have to keep their tear-off visor covers in the car after removal in case a hedghog chokes on them - ****ing ridiculous. Any time there is a chance to penalise anyone except Mercedes it is taken with both hands by the cheats at the stewards room, bunch of self serving *******s Forza Ferrari..... the only racing team and car marque that matters. Italia forever It’s easier to apologise than it is to ask permission
So funny to see.. Ferrarichat: wheeh..FIA is pro Mercedes, Ferrari gets bulled RedBull forum: whaah...FIA is Ferrari, punishments are a joke and influenced by championships Mercedes forum: whooh, FIA clearly says Ferrari and RedBull get away with everything, totally anti Mercedes
So a 5 sec penalty -- wait, add 10 sec more so he drops a spot and loses two points. If Ferrari hadn't pitted Charles in search of a fast lap, 15 sec wouldn't have dropped him a spot. (Unless FIA gave him another 10 for driving a car with an "F" in the name. ) I watched the start, again. There may be words in the Ferrari garage about team orders on the start. Anyone doubt Leclerc could have blasted past the slow Seb, if he hadn't been ordered to "not race Seb at the start"? More blunders from the Ferrari pit wall. (Snatching defeats from the jaws of victories.) This is NOT how to win a championship. Hmm. Did Ham lose his right mirror when he was playing bumpers with Sainz? (Right around the same time Charles and Max bumped.) Edit - Nope, it was Leclerc's end plate that took out Ham's mirror, on lap 2, I think. (Slo-mo on the first laps.) Ham lost his mirror before Leclerc lost his.
Ironically, it looks like Ham drove straight into it. When the end plate came off the left side of Leclerc's car, Ham swerved to the right, to the extreme outside of the track .... .... which is exactly where the end plate went. If Ham had held his line, it looks like the end plate would have missed him entirely, instead of hitting Ham's mirror.
With all these mirrors getting torn off, *somebody* has to say it: "What's-a behind me is NOT important!"