Hamilton looked for an opportunity; it wasn't there, so he ran wide to avoid an incident. When you lead the championship comfortably, as he does, there is no need to take risk. Unlike his nearest competitor, Vettel, Hamilton can see the big picture and not get bogged down in silly little incidents.
You're current post is somewhat in contrast to your own remarks from about five hours ago. Which is it? Bottomline, Lewis needs to score a COMBINED whopping TOTAL of five points over the next three races to win the championship, even if Seb wins ALL THREE of the remaining races. Care to wager?
Ferrari has ALWAYS had the car to win the championship. Silly / stupid mistakes from everyone in the team handed the championship to Hamilton on a silver platter.
Man, it was very rewarding to see Kimi win. I thought he was poised to take the lead off the line and he did. Drove flawleeesly thereafter. Seb, the opposite of Kimi but good recovery drive to keep his slim hopes alive. A weird strategy by Merc today...have to assume the US tires were not going to work, but really ambitious pit strategy. As well as the car has been in recent Gp’s, I thought they solved the tire eating but I guess not. On to Mexico! Great win by Kimi...doing it for the old guys!!!
I think Ham had some impressive drives along the way, but certainly Ferrari errors made the job easier.
He’s trying too hard. That’s been his problem...once he gets behind he wants it all back at once...especially with a fast car. It just doesn’t work like that
I think part of it is down to both having a competitive instinct and an addiction to winning (or at least obtaining the best result possible). Momentum is a "strange girl!" It's not something one likes to give up without a fight. The ultimate difference is in the varying degrees of just how calculated the risks taken are.
We all know the current situation, but what does this have to do with todays performance? Lewis started on pole and finished 3rd... if he would have won we would have been told that it was a moment of brilliance in history of F1 that gave him his 5th WDC, even if he had cruised for 75% of the race... Now he dropped back to 3rd and some people still want to sell us this as a race of brilliance because he drove so smart and "played it safe". I am sure even when he finished last some here would be able to explain why it was a superb performance...This is the entire theme of the discussion and nothing else... Everybody knows that he will be WDC this year, be it today, next or in two weeks...what does it make for a difference? Even if he gunned into Max today he still would be WDC...
Btw, great, clean racing between Max and Lewis. Max won that round with Lewis losing sight of the track limits (can’t tell if his tires gave up or he was on the curbs). I thought it would be tears and carbon fiber, but Max behaved and kept his position fair and square. I didn’t think Lewis needed to go for the position, but he’s a racer so not surprised. If you survive a wheel-to-wheel tussle with Max, that’s pretty good. I wouldn’t have done it, but I’m not in position to win a 5th WDC either. Also, Seb did a great job stalking VB to get 4th.
I seldom comment here, but I would like to say I am very happy for Kimi, for Ferrari and for the Renault. Sorry for Daniel Ricciardo: hopefully with a all-new for 2019 engine, the Renault will then be able to join the Benz/Ferrari/Red Bull party!
So did his team. How many positions did they blow...especially in the beginning of the year or at tracks they should’ve won. How many pints did Max cost them? Yes Seb made some mistakes on his own...I think every driver does but he’s not the type of competitor who’s just going to sit back and be okay losing. He took things into his own hands because that’s what champions do and sometimes their hailed a hero, other times...well not so much. Ferrari imploded. Plain and simple.
Gee it would have been nice to see Hamilton walk up to Kimi and hug and congratulate him in the waiting room after the race. But nope, not even a smile. Way to go captain hairdo.
mark, william and krafty are obviously convinced that he did not do any mistake but "played it safe" instead and that he dropped back because Max had the better tires...
He congratulated him on the tarmac. That was good enough. I don’t really expect Merc and Ferrari drivers to celebrate the other winning too hard.
It’s not about merc and Ferrari it’s about guys who (in some cases) have been racing together forever and should show a little humanity. I could understand if it was two guys fighting for the championship but Hamilton is going to win and Kimi poses no threat. A little pat on the back and a smile at least. Its great he did it in front of the crowd (for the crowd) but then when face to face he really couldn’t give a rats ass. Those after race waiting room scenes are typically so awkward.
OK, so driving off track because being unable to keep the car on track is not a mistake anymore? I guess we have to agree to disagree on that one...
In this particular situation I don’t think it can be distilled down to purely driver error; he was sparring w max and was on a “dirty” line and he was trying to put down more power than there was grip to try to make a pass on max...he ran out of grip and road on an ambitious move all of which was a result of some mighty excellent defensive driving by max. If Seb had tried the same move, he probably would’ve crashed clumsily into max and spun like the idiot seems to always do...