Some insight on this from LH and the start - https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/131901/hamilton-vettel-probably-unsighted-in-crash Lewis Hamilton has suggested Sebastian Vettel probably couldn't see Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen in the moments before they collided at the start of the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix. Vettel, Raikkonen and Verstappen were all eliminated from the Marina Bay race as a result of the crash, for which the FIA stewards did not apportion blame. Verstappen was convinced Vettel's aggressive defence of the lead after a slow start from pole caused the shunt, while Vettel could not explain the sequence of events that led to his disastrous retirement from the race. Hamilton emerged from fifth on the grid to win the grand prix, extending his points lead over Vettel to 28 with six races to run. When asked for his views on the start, Mercedes driver Hamilton explained it can be difficult for the poleman to know where his rivals are positioned in the immediate moments after the lights go out. "Often - when you look at my last start at Monza - when you pull away, you can't actually see the guy who's in second place," said Hamilton, who described the crash as "an unfortunate racing incident". "They're generally in your blind spot if they get as good a start as you, and it's difficult to know where they are. "So your immediate thought is to cover your ground, get to the inside and cover and turn them down, so I assume that's what he [Vettel] did. "When you do that, all of a sudden they appear in your mirror so you can understand where they are, or [if they are] in your peripheral view, but sometimes you do it and you realise you're ahead so you actually didn't need to.
Did Kimi know Vettel was there? Kimi didn't move right until Verstappen moved left. Verstappen didn't move left until Vettel came across. Vettel was the trigger. Verstappen is better in the rain than Vettel. And I'd like to see Stroll vs. Vettel in the rain, in a competitive car.
This could be debated forever, but I wonder whether Max in fact moved left because of Vettel, or was he trying to recover from a botched start by staking a claim to his left?
He reacted to Vettel. Verstappen's start wasn't botched and immediately he'd have seen Vettel making a not so good get away...you see him react to Kimi the moment he spotted him.
Compared to Kimi it was a slower start. You can see the Ferrari pull out from behind him almost immediately.
Try watching the start in real time from onboard vet and Max. Neither of them will have seen Kimi coming. Kimi had an absolute rocket start. A 1 in a 100 mega start. The first max knew of him was when their wheels touched. Vet caused the accident. Kimi was the only one of the 3 who could even see all the cars and he chose to keep his foot in and not lift or even steer to the left where he had plenty of spare space. Net result, 3 cars in a space big enough for one. At the speed it happened it can reasonably be called a racing incident.
In addition to what Subirg said, Kimi had a rare rocket start (not just rare for Kimi but rare for any driver)
This was so immensely close I was screaming. I couldn't see how they would squeeze through. KMag is a weirdo but indeed he's shown some bold stuff.
Interesting pic. Looks like Max has more accountability than a lot of people think. Kimi was straight as an arrow. Seb moved over and Max got spooked and forgot about Kimi.
That's what I said. The one in the middle of the sandwich is always on the receiving end, no matter what. Max has tried the sandwich before and it hasn't worked out. It doesn't really matter who turns which way, if he wants to become a WDC one day then he'll need to learn to keep his nose out of this stuff.
The real culprit was Max's lousy start. But Ferrari should have played it safer in what should have been an easy victory
All I know is that 45 points went begging for Ferrari ..................... who cares about the drivers !!!
Toto sounds convincing here in the face of the reality about LHs current lead - http://www.planetf1.com/news/wolff-still-no-number-1-at-mercedes/
It's obvious that it was Max who touched Kimi, but to be fair, at that speed, with cars so close, and wtching Seb closing in, i guess the normal thing would be for Max to try and deflect to the other side...obviously he should have just braked..but it's all going to fast in a split of time...it was just a very unfortunate race incident, nothing else..probably costed us the championship but it is what it is.
Bas was upset as the rest of us....it was everyone's fault and nobody's at the same time (except for Alonso who was dumb enough to get hit by the other 2 )...it all very easy for us to talk in our armchairs....but despite the majoritys opinion, i think SEb had then right to protect his position, it's very easy to say he should have played it safe, but the Mercedes is faster, and Sen needs all the points he can get, he can't just play safe, to me honestly, i think Max was the most guilty of all parts, and Kimi the least.
Sorry, have not heared mr Mol's comment on this. I have my own eyes to make a judgement. Kimi still had room between him and the barrier, but decided to keep his line anyway , even when he could see vettel move inwards. I am not suggesting he should brake. If I would do that, I could also suggest that VER could have braked to avoid this. Why didn't Kimi move a little to the side? Why keeping his straight line and go for it?
Image Unavailable, Please Login No doubt photoshopped by Singhof himself. On a more serious note: three objects moving in the same direction and closing in on each other with +200 km/h.....
Heres video from FOM showing all camera angles including those involved in the "melee" AND all on-boards...on boards including those NOT involved. Note: Alonso was ahead of Kimi and Max going into the turn NOT KNOWING and NOT BEING ABLE TO SEE over MAX all the while Kimi is still sliding in a trajectory towards Max then Alonso(who got hit in the mid to rear part of his car). Note: Max's steering wheel is mostly straight until Vettel moves left then Max moves left slightly....then the hit from Kimi. Singapore's Start-line Crash: All The Camera Angles
Max actually moved to the right off the start line to try and block off Vettel.Then went straight on as Vettel moved to his left...So gave Kimi a big gap. If Max had gone straight off the line Kimi might not have gone past him so easily. It is a racing incident,Vettel lost out big time ....
