Donkey of the race

[Daniel]

Race director for exposing the drivers and marshals to stupid risks :mark:

[Daniel]

Add Hamilton for trying to take Di Resta out......

[N4D13]

Add Hamilton for trying to take Di Resta out......
Duh. No doubt it was quite a dumb move, but after all the mistakes we've seen today from all the drivers, I can't single anyone out for Donkey of the Race.

[Hawkmoon]

Hamilton for going onto inters when he didn't need to. The dangerous spin is the cherry on top.

[CaptainRaiden]

Mclaren for making a dumb move and putting inters on Hamilton's car.

Hamilton for spinning out of lead and then almost taking Di Resta out.

Vettel for making a mistake and handing Hamilton the lead.

[steveaki13]

Everyone who put Inters on at the second shower.

hamilton for the spin that forced Di resta off the track.

Stewards; Should probably have put out a SC after that big fire.

[wedge]

Add Hamilton for trying to take Di Resta out......

Sadly it happens all the time and at all levels and at lower levels it doesn't always gets penalised.

When a driver spins their natural reaction is to spin round again.

You could spin round in a safe gap but the tyre smoke can create mayhem for oncoming traffic.

[wedge]

Race director for exposing the drivers and marshals to stupid risks :mark:

The problem is that even if the SC came out the marshalls would've been exposed to stupid risks because it occurred during the pit window. And even with debris the cars were having to stay within the pit exit/white line.

[Daniel]

Sadly it happens all the time and at all levels and at lower levels it doesn't always gets penalised.

When a driver spins their natural reaction is to spin round again.

You could spin round in a safe gap but the tyre smoke can create mayhem for oncoming traffic.

Well Lewis has said that he didn't see Paul and apologised so I have no problem with it.

[Daniel]

The problem is that even if the SC came out the marshalls would've been exposed to stupid risks because it occurred during the pit window. And even with debris the cars were having to stay within the pit exit/white line.

But once the pit madness had settled down THEN they could have sorted things out. Whilst I'll let Lewis off, I think the race director was very much in the wrong there.

[wedge]

Well Lewis has said that he didn't see Paul and apologised so I have no problem with it.

Di Resta told the BBC the penalty would have been a difficult choice to make

[spudrsca]

Hamilton's engineer.
I was mad when I saw that they put him the softer tires, the tires were good for only 10-12 laps and only 5-6 competitive laps.
Why this choice when Hamilton yesterday was fast on the harder ones.

[Daniel]

Di Resta told the BBC the penalty would have been a difficult choice to make

Like I said, it was just one of those things and for me, the fact that Hamilton recognised that what he did was wrong is enough, if you didn't see someone then how are you meant to not spin in front of them, hopefully next time Lewis will look a little harder though.

[markabilly]

Well Lewis has said that he didn't see Paul and apologised so I have no problem with it.

Gone all defensive, huh?
Did not see what? His own dumbbass?

three cars in a row, and Paul was number two.
He nearly took out number one (who that was I do not remember)

If this was his only "event" of the season, I might think something else, but this ain't.

[Daniel]

Gone all defensive, huh?
Did not see what? His own dumbbass?

three cars in a row, and Paul was number two.
He nearly took out number one (who that was I do not remember)
Dude, I was complaining before about Lewis' move because I though as usual he'd take no responsiblity for it and have a cry. He didn't and I changed my view of things, deal with it.

[steveaki13]

People have different views why try so hard to start an arguement.

[markabilly]

Dude, I was complaining before about Lewis' move because I though as usual he'd take no responsiblity for it and have a cry. He didn't and I changed my view of things, deal with it.

like I said, the pattern has been there all season.

so deal with it the right way, or bury your head up the chute, like the stewards have done.

[Daniel]

like I said, the pattern has been there all season.

so deal with it the right way, or bury your head up the chute, like the stewards have done.

As Aki said, why try so hard to start an argument? Usually I'm happy to be hard on Lewis, today is not one of those days so you'll have to get over it?

[markabilly]

i don't care about daniel or his little ego being right or wrong. I care about who Ham hurts with his next dumbbutt stunt

[wedge]

Like I said, it was just one of those things and for me, the fact that Hamilton recognised that what he did was wrong is enough, if you didn't see someone then how are you meant to not spin in front of them, hopefully next time Lewis will look a little harder though.

Sorry, I wasn't having a go at you. Just pointing out to Di Resta's remarks to our non-BBC friends.

Saying that, on the replay you could see Di Resta coming into the chicane but then I don't know the protocol for anti-stall and back into first gear again, and as I said earlier that situation blurs your peripheral vision.

[52Paddy]

Quiet children!

Lewis Hamilton certainly made a haymes of a potential race win, not aided by some bad strategic decisions. But there are another few donkeys worth noting: Mercedes, for one, got off to a brilliant start and looked set for a decent improvement on their grid positions. But, both drivers went backward quite rapidly and, although Rosberg was in the top 5 for a while, he slipped into the clutches of the bottom half of the top 10 mercilessly. Schumacher began to look ragged and then the car let him down. Not a good showing from the Silver Arrows. Perhaps not donkeys exactly, but I expected more from Perez and Sutil in this race but both were fleeced by their respective team-mates.

[52Paddy]

Saying that, on the replay you could see Di Resta coming into the chicane but then I don't know the protocol for anti-stall and back into first gear again, and as I said earlier that situation blurs your peripheral vision.

Regardless of how difficult the vision was, the reality of the situation is: Hamilton spun, so it is his duty to rejoin the racing motion with care. Had he spun the car towards the left hand side of the track, it would not be an issue. But, he spun the car towards the racing line. Even if he was unsure of the presence of a car, he should have been checking carefully because if a car was to be anywhere, it would be on the racing line - particularly exiting that chicane as no-one would be racing side by side at that point. He did apologise and everything has been dealt with accordingly. That's the main thing.

[Mia 01]

lewis, it was a ruthless move, he putted both himself and other drivers in great danger.

[wedge]

Even if he was unsure of the presence of a car, he should have been checking carefully because if a car was to be anywhere, it would be on the racing line - particularly exiting that chicane as no-one would be racing side by side at that point.

All very well but pressure of racing can blur your thinking, especially when you were leading the race.

[SGWilko]

like I said, the pattern has been there all season.



Knit1 pearl2.....

[52Paddy]

All very well but pressure of racing can blur your thinking, especially when you were leading the race.

Agreed, but that doesn't make it any less worthy of a penalty and a slap on the wrist.

[Koz]

Lewis Hamilton.

And the stewards for not sending out the SC when the Renault exploded.

[Koz]

The McLaren strategy call to put Lewis on intermediate tyres.

Never mind.

[Robinho]

Tricky one today.

Stewards/Marshals for the Renault incident, i don't think they needed a safety car but reversing the car on a tow rope up the pitlane at an oncoming Vettel was Stupid.

Hamilton/McLaren - first going onto softs was a mistake, he needed another stop over the other leaders anyway, compounded this by pitting for Inters when they were not needed. and out of chronological order, the spin recover was well worth of the penalty it attracted. on the positive a great recovery drive and a mature apology and acceptance of his mistakes.

Alonso - same mistake going on to softs, but only lost the one stop by going to hards and recovered to 3rd. However he should have been fighting for 1st as he was as quick as anyone through most stints and lost tonnes of track position by going off several times early on.

Sauber generally for thinking they know better than everyone else on the tyres and being proved wrong. Again.

[Big Ben]

Hamilton went from hero to zero in a very spectacular way. After 35 laps I would have said he's definitely going to be driver of the race but then after that point he did one bad move after another culminating with that spin. He has no respect for others.

[AndyL]

No-one nominating D'Ambrosio for arriving in his pit box sideways?

[Robinho]

No-one nominating D'Ambrosio for arriving in his pit box sideways?yep, good one, i had forgotten about that but it was pretty spectacular (and could have been dangerous)

[wedge]

Agreed, but that doesn't make it any less worthy of a penalty and a slap on the wrist.

I'm was giving some context because sometimes its all to easy to point fingers.

DC and Brundle were hesitant, erring towards a slap on the wrist. PDR was understanding and unsure though dialogue with LH helped in that respect.

[wedge]

The McLaren strategy call to put Lewis on intermediate tyres. It was gamble that didn't pay off and was one of the things that hampered a great drive by Lewis.

I'd say the donkey moment was the third stop for super softs again. Not out of hindsight but alarm bells should have been ringing that the options were crap on a drying track and struggling with double digit laps under them.

[AndyL]

I'd say the donkey moment was the third stop for super softs again. Not out of hindsight but alarm bells should have been ringing that the options were crap on a drying track and struggling with double digit laps under them.

I think that was a tricky call to make at the time. Webber had stopped for the primes the lap before, but when he emerged from the pits he would have been a long way behind Lewis on track so there wouldn't have been much time to see how the primes were performing. Everyone was expecting them to be at least a second slower, which didn't turn out to be the case (until it started raining anyway). That said, Red Bull managed to call it right for Webber so McLaren had equal opportunity to do so of course.
The 4th pit stop should have been easier to get right I think, they'd had a whole lap to see that Rosberg wasn't going quickly on the inters.

[ioan]

3 x Hamilton!

Had one brand new set of super soft tires available and did bugger all with them.
Bonehead move after his spin, he obviously doesn't give a damn about other drivers' lives.
Then he goes for intermediates for about 2 laps!

[BDunnell]

Bonehead move after his spin, he obviously doesn't give a damn about other drivers' lives.=

Yawn.

[52Paddy]

I'm was giving some context because sometimes its all to easy to point fingers.

DC and Brundle were hesitant, erring towards a slap on the wrist. PDR was understanding and unsure though dialogue with LH helped in that respect.

Yes, I understand where you're coming from. I just feel that failure to follow the (maybe unwritten) protocol in such circumstances deserved what had been served. Consider taking off from standstill in your own car, and failing to look over your right shoulder. Suppose a cyclist is coming up on your right hand side (right-hand drive vehicle of course), you don't see him and he has to swerve to avoid your car. In the process, he escapes any incident or injury but makes it his policy to give you a mouthload. Wouldn't that be justified? I see a parallel situation with regard to Hamilton and Di Resta. In the same way you wouldn't deserve penalty points (do you use them in the UK?), Hamilton doesn't deserve a race-ban. But, in the same way you would deserve a cursing and blinding telling off, Hamilton did deserve a drive-through. In the same way you would think twice the next time, so should Hamilton, given the added threat of penalty.

Dialogue can only go so far with regards to sportsmen, in my opinion. You could argue that the situation I painted for you with the cyclist holds the same argument with regards to road users but my aim is to evenly weight the outcomes of the respective circumstances.

[wedge]

Picked this up from James Allen's website: Hamilton penalty was for offence eerily similar to GP2 move- James Allen on F1 (http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/07/hamilton-penalty-was-for-offence-eerily-similar-to-gp2-move/)

from the 2006 GP2 LH pulled a similar and no penalty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbjRFd205qo#t=49s


Some of the experienced ex drivers in the F1 paddock expressed some surprise that the Di Resta incident warranted a drive through.

[52Paddy]

To get away without a penalty for a move like that in GP2 is ridiculous. That was far more dangerous than Sunday's antics, given the location and speed of traffic.

[IceWizard]

Race director for exposing the drivers and marshals to stupid risks :mark:

Not sure there was a need for a safety car as long as drivers observe the yellow flags.... What did seem stupid was pulling the car back into the pit lane while cars were emerging from it.

[Daniel]

Not sure there was a need for a safety car as long as drivers observe the yellow flags.... What did seem stupid was pulling the car back into the pit lane while cars were emerging from it.

The drivers were having to go through a debris filled pit lane exit..... not good.

[wedge]

The drivers were having to go through a debris filled pit lane exit..... not good.

But you're not allowed to cross the white line at pit exit lane, not to mention incident occured at a pit window so the SC would've increased risk to marshalls.

[Mia 01]

Next race Spa, therefore take care and take a leaf out of Jensons book. Jenson can end up with moore point than you this year if you not learn.

[Daniel]

But you're not allowed to cross the white line at pit exit lane, not to mention incident occured at a pit window so the SC would've increased risk to marshalls.

Tell the teams the pits are closed and send the safety car out. problem solved.