Are you sure ? I think we've been seeing far less incidents in recent years than in past. Take Verstappens blocking move on Raikkonen in Spa, Schumacher did exactly the same thing on Hakkinen, but even went a bit further, on the same stretch of tarmac even. Schumi had many incidents over the years, remember that brake test he performed, was it on D.Hill ? Schumi blocked, even rammed others drivers of track/out of corners at least twice, was it Villeneuve or Hakkinen again ? winning him his first F1 title. Prost and Senna had incidents as well.
Mercedes had its fair share of moody people on the podium, so I can't see them ever promoting Wehrlein in their works team.
He is definitely starting to annoy me. From a commercial perspective, he will not be a star here IMHO. US fans will not identify with him. Gene Haas also annoys me as well. Recently said there are no American drivers for F1 in response to Mario Andretti suggesting he focus on a US driver.
Interesting perspective. Hamilton basically just said that this new rule should stop a further evolution of the aggression you are referencing: F1 champions happy 'unwritten law' has been clarified "The rules have to be very strict and clear because otherwise if they say you're allowed to move under braking, everyone will do it and we'll all start a new way of driving which is dangerous. You look at IndyCar, for example, one twitch and the car goes flying, so I think it's definitely the right way." ...although his comment about Indycar is idiotic. First of all they have the rear pods now and there is actually very little moving under braking; the issues happen elsewhere. I can't recall one car getting launched or hit under braking due to a late block the entire season. There is a lot more "squeezing" that goes on in Indycar; which is fair game to me - especially with Push-to-Pass because no one is sure where they will end up exactly in the braking zone relative to another car.
The few races Rossi did last year, he did better than I expected. So it's not a bad guy to have, especially for commercial reasons. However, looking at the caliber of drivers NOT in F1 but definitely have a lot of talent, Gene is right, quite a few very good European based drivers that would be a better alternative. IMO US drivers simply aren't very interested in F1 because of the low money vs what they can get racing in US based series.
To be honest, I was looking way back before the era you mentioned. In the 60s and 70s, you wouldn't have seen aggressive moves on the track, because the stakes were higher. With tubular chassis, lateral fuel tanks, and no run-off areas, drivers respected each other and didn't take much chance with Lady Luck. I don't recall drivers in the Clark, Stewart or Lauda era being so aggressive or defensive as now. Just staying on the track was a tall ordeal, and many drivers died every year. The consummate aggression started with Senna, and became common practice under Schumacher, I have to say. The chances of survival have increased tremendously in between. That alone must explain it.
Well if you take a defensive line, it makes it really hard for him to chuck it up the inside and not get re-passed on the exit. ...and he should still get a penalty if he causes an accident with a pass where he really wasn't in position. I think Kimi's penalty in the Russian GP last year for his divebomb on Bottas is a good example. Of course, we all know the penalties are not consistently enforced.
I'm split on that honestly. He's American, good looking, etc. I don't know that he is the biggest personality if you know what I mean. Not a knock; just some people are more interesting than others. Based on what are they better though? They are being rated based on a ladder system most of them don't compete in. I mean the best way to figure that out would be to let them test. That is the way they use to find the best F1 drivers...some of them anyway ; ) I don't know for certain, but I think a huge portion of the field in the US are basically pay drivers. So I'm not sure it's that they "make" more, but rather that it costs so much less. Haryanto had to pay what - over 20m for a partial season in the worst car? You can get a full season in the best car in Indycar for like 6m. Anyway - don't want to take this too far off topic.
You are definitely correct regarding the safer cars giving more bravery. I heard an honest interview not that long ago with a driver that got launched massively through the air in the Indycar ladder system - carbon monocoque, etc. They asked him if it gave him pause in attempting a move like that again. He said that it honestly gave him even more confidence because he now knows how safe the car is having only banged his shins. He is still pretty young...but this could be more representative of the kids coming up now. It just has to have an effect. You literally use to have great drivers that were not interested in F1 because they were afraid to die! That is not the case anymore certainly.
Totally agree. I also like Vergne's personality. Now he's racing in FE...which I find very boring even as I try to enjoy it! : (
So,as I read Lewis' response to the "clarification", he thinks it will make things safer if everybody just gets out of his way. It seems to me that we may now have drivers rush up behind a car they want to overtake and feign an evasive maneuver in hopes of getting the other guy penalized.
