Not breaking too late would have been a good idea. He locked his wheels and lost control because of being over-ambitious. This is the stuff we are used with Max, but Vettel is a 4 times WDC. He raced so much for the first corner that he lost the race there!
I think part of this is the drivers all knowing that whatever place you exit out of turn 1 will be your finish as well... barring a strategic blunder or accident which allows for one person or the other to take advantage.
Very true. That's the way F1 has become: an ordered procession decided by grid order. This is maybe why a different format to the grid could be imagined. The best lap time in qualifs could still be rewarded, but not give pole position. Maybe the grid should be in reverse order? Or in random order? (Whisper: It works well in some other series) It may seem sacrilegious to propose that, but something has to be done, otherwise the races are too predictable.
Exactly! Vettel did a "Verstappen" (or a Maldonado if you prefer) at the first corner, and should be dealt with the same way as anyone. .
Note: Seb has three options.. 1.) Not to try to overtake down to turn one -> people will complain that he is not racing enough 2.) Trying and failing -> people will complain that he threw away the race, the WDC and most likely world peace 3.) Trying and succeed -> people will say he is the true champion a 4x WDC should be So chances to be zero/hero are about 2/1 I personally prefer him trying instead of just handing over the race and WDC to Mercedes when they have a dimonant car and a suitable tire on a track...
Max was next to Vettels right going into T1....he backed off knowing he was on the outside line...... then the drama happened.
This is why I disagree with the 5 second penalty. I didn't see anything intentional in what he did. It was a racing accident. Both knew the risks and rewards. Vettel knew his only chance was to use his tire choice as an advantage IF he could jump ahead at the start. Two cars go into the corner at the same time. Blame the track design if you want. Its more to blame. We want drivers to take risks and in doing so, create drama and interest. Instead they want them all to play nice and go around corners single file. That's not racing. That's an exhibition --like Vintage racing. We shouldn't be penalizing racing incidents.
The number one goal is to finish the race... secondary is to try to exit turn one in a better position than you started. Seb had his priorities slightly mixed up.
So you say a driver should NEVER risk anything because it might mean a DNF if something goes wrong? So a driver should also not defend his position because something could happen. Why did Bottas did not lift when Seb was next to him to avoid any contact at any costs? It is not like Seb did go for a gap that was not there...no, he was already in the gap and he backed off and while doing so he made a mistake. That is why the comparison with Max is ridiculous in this case: Max is going for gaps nobody beside him sees, Max crashed into Seb while going for it, Seb did crash into Bottas after backing off. So it was his fault but it was a racing incident, unlike Max/Seb....
Admittedly I didn't watch the replay fifty times, but I stick with the concept of my post... To put it more elegantly: to finish first, first you must finish. Seb took a chance...such chances combined with luck are what moments of glory are made from. Coincidentally, those same chances combined with less than perfect luck are what DNFs are made from. Luck is generally out of the driver's control...seb gambled and lost...we were lucky it wasn't a DNF. Unfortunately, it's what F1 is right now. We are fond of saying that races aren't won at the first corner, but quite frankly...these days they are. Do I blame Seb for trying? Not in light of ALL of the above. In hindsight, though...he looked to have the pace to challenge and we'll never know what might have been.
OK, but let's not forget that however unintentional Vettel's manoeuvre was, it completely destroyed Bottas' race. Vettel lost plenty of places after the incident, but it was his own fault. Not the same for Bottas, after liming back to the pits, he really never figured in the race, probably losing a podium chance. A 5 second penalty added to Vettel's time doesn't act much as a deterrent, I think. As for not penalizing racing "incidents", this is opening a pandora box, I fear. Leniency is always abused. Bring back Maldonado, Kvyat and else ...
The way GPs are formatted, you are right. Qualifications are the decider, very often. The grid often determines the finishing order. You could say the result of a GP hinges on no more than 5 minutes at the end of Q3 !!
Whatever way you want to cut and slice it. Vettel managed a 1 point WDC lead, into a deficit of 14 to his main contender, IMO he wasn't looking at the bigger picture, he had a quick car under him. He did well to recover, the penalty was justified.
F1 racing has become carbon copy of our society , oversensitivity to everything . The drivers are supposed to be infallible and not prone to any mistakes , you can’t put a foot wrong without the threat of a penalty , the horror of trying to overtake someone and make a mistake , you get chastised , crucified and vilified in the media . Bad enough the circuits are terrible for modern F1 cars , the fear of getting a penalty for being too aggressive and making a mistake , along with other factors which have been discussed at great length in other threads , we are stuck week in and out watching boring processions . Let them race , only malicious and flagrant fouls should be penalized , they are all big boys and a bunch of DNF’s will bring them back soon enough
Well said!! He misses the 'long game' it seems. His pace was swift and I think he passes Bottas over the course of the race!!
I've been watching the overhead replay as well as Vettel's forward camera and I think you are right. I think what went wrong with Vettel and Bottas was Vettel going into the corner half-heartedly and Bottas going in too aggressively and then closing the door too late. It was a racing incident and Bottas was at fault. Vettel's only "fault" was that he was not aggressive enough. Vettel was not following Lewis into the corner any closer than anyone else and the plan with him and Kimi were to use their Ultrasofts to jump ahead at the start... and everyone else knew it. Vettel already had the inside line and was alongside Bottas at the 100 meters marker so if he had braked at the same time as Bottas he would have stayed alongside Bottas and Bottas would have had to back off. Instead, Bottas braked much later than Vettel and then cut in too late and did not leave enough space. His car also abruptly interrupted Vettel's air. Vettel's brakes only started to lock up AFTER Bottas swept 1/4 car width in front of him. Vettel did not lose the corner on his own. He had the inside line and was following Lewis at a normal distance behind. I have a clip of Bottas's move. Bottas was going into the corner too hot because he had the outside line. Instead of scrubbing off more speed he cut in front of Vettel. He knew Vettel was on his left because Vettel was actually in front of him just before they reached the 100 meter marker. Vettel braked just as he arrived at the 100 meter marker, keeping pace with Lewis; but Bottas kept accelerating and shot past Vettel. If Vettel had gone into the corner a bit hotter and stayed with Bottas, he would have pushed Bottas off the outside corner or caused him to brake much harder. Vettel took the safer route and didn't expect Bottas to cut in front so abruptly and destroy his air. I have the video clips and can post them if anyone wants to look. Vettel may have been too apologetic because he had been overly aggressive on occasion in the past.
No, because he can not leave points when it is so close. He can not wave by Bottas thinking "I will take him later on anyway" because this is not a given. He needs to get by and one of the only places this is possible is in turn one after the start. Seb and Bottas closed too fast on Lewis and it was very close for Seb so he had to break or lift and then he missjudged the gap to Bottas because he needed to make sure he went their very close behind Bottas or Max would have been gone through as well... How one can compare this with what Max did driving into Seb with nobody else around and without a gap to be seen is beyond me....And he even got the same penality so why do people actually complain???
