Ferrari had no way of knowing if the old wheel/tyre was still attached properly or not, so couldn't risk sending Kimi out to do a lap to come back around to the pits, and they had slightly more important things to deal with at the time, than running down the pitlane to drag Kimi's car back and completing the pit-stop for him. Looking after Francesco was their priority, and by the time they were able to move him safely, Kimi's race was well and truly over (Can you imagine the outrage that would have been caused if they had simply dragged Francesco out the way, risking irreparable damage to his already broken leg, just to complete Kimi's pitstop?). For Kimi, he was told to stop the car immediately, which he did, and then he sat there waiting for the mechanics to drag him back (reversing in the pit lane is a complete no-no under rule 28.3: "At no time may a car be reversed in the pit lane under its own power." ), not realising that all of the mechanics were pre-occupied with their injured colleague. Chances are, Kimi felt Ferrari had screwed him over yet again, and so not knowing what had really happened, but realising his race was over, had a bit of a strop at the time and ditched the car where it was, for the mechanics to deal with and fetch it back, because he was done for the day.
As subirg said....not clear if the tyre was loose or not, letting him continue would result in additional penalties. I think it was Bottas a few years ago at I think Spa, they send him out with 1 wrong tyre....he had to pit again and I think he received another penalty on top of this. this --- Regarding Pirelli, their max lap count is simply a suggestion of what the tyres should be able to do, cars that are kind on their tyres could stretch it a few laps and so on. A tyre won't simply explode after X laps. They gradually lose grip before falling off the cliff, Vettel had a really tough job to manage the tyres in the end. He pitted much earlier than the Mercs and was first going for a 2 stopper, hence him really putting in the laps early on...then Kimi had his issue, Ferrari not sure what was broken in the pit and anyway a man down (I really doubt they carry spare pitcrew members) so they had to change strategy...Had vettel not hammered the laps in early in his stint the tyres would've been in far better shape, but then that wasn't even the plan. A great win.
I am surprised that he did not get on the radio and say "Toto you need to tell Bottas to slow up and let me by into P2"
I've re-watched the video of the race, and it occurred to me that Lewis "steered into" Max, while two corners earlier he went wide with Alonso....
The original shot is deceptive it looks like he is close but he is 2 garages away in front of Pink India garage. He was sitting in the car for a good 20s before he got out, I think Arrivebene made the call, in this current era of saving engines there is no point having him driving around at the back of the grid. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The criticism of Kimi is both sad and silly. First, he probably knew nothing of what was going on other than something happened in the pit lane. Second, he's probably pissed off and trying to get away from saying anything in public. Third, there's nothing he could do but distract from the first responder's job to help the man down. I hate Monday morning quarterbacks. It's racing. People get hurt. People get hurt in every contact sport all the time. Stop whining.
he did indeed. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Watch this in slow motion and you can clearly see Hamilton applying more steering lock suddenly. Whilst a racing incident, Lewis is not blameless there. Too stubborn to know he lost the position, had he kept his car where it was the next corner they'd have had an almighty shunt.
At least: when they hit Lewis was not even on the curbs so it is not true that he had nowere to go...(plus he has brakes...) The problem was Alonso: he blocked the normal racing line for Max and therefore he had to run wide to avoid him....As said: racing incident
I'm sure some other races have generated more posts here on the forum, but this has been a blast discussing all the aspects of this race. Even the disagreements on what we think of various topics has taught me a lot more about F1. Can't wait for the next race.
I really had high hopes for Max although at this point he is losing my respect and he is an absolute irritant. He irritates me as an F1 fan and seems to irritate the other drivers with his immature antics. He is under mama Horners wing though. Maybe big mama Horner will have a little stern talk with him. This being said I hope he continues to screw up the Mercedes team as he did last year for Ferrari.
I love the Susie Wolf and Mark Webber interview about the bet, and when asked if Lewis could have pulled it off, they both immediately said "Yes" without a second thought.
As far as I remember you criticized Seb last year for not going aside seeing the "bigger picture" when he was IN FRONT of Max....why don´t you do the same with Lewis when he is BEHIND Max seeing exactly what is going on?
I think we have a new appreciation for Rosberg, who many of us thought was a light weight in a great car.
Not too sure what you are referring to last year .. was it the one with Kimi Max n Vettel when Vettel moved across ? Anyhow Lewis was in front of Max approaching the braking zone, Max braked later then hung out Lewis to dry,ending his own race.Lewis had every right to be on the outside of the track,indeed he had nowhere else to go. Racing incident.Lewis summed it up 'DHead'
Watching the first race of the season I was thinking the same thing. After Bahrain, I changed my mind. I like a few things about the new coverage. No commercials and the fact that the commentators covering the grid have an actual racing experience and they know what to say.