Delhi's Donkey

[Koz]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8491/8351768113_ce36bccabe_z.jpg


Kimi for being a twat and blocking Grosjean.

Lotus for Kimi's strategy.

[donKey jote]

for sure donkimi (c) Warri

otherwise hardly any real donkeys this time

[longisland]

Lotus for "miscalculating". RBR for giving a "faulty" alternator to Webber & the whole race.

[ShiftingGears]

Pirelli. And whoever is supposed to regulate pollution in the region around the Buddh track. The air certainly didn't look like it lacked sufficient thickness and taste.

[Tazio]

My choice is Pirelli. Those soft tires on this track were useless!

[DexDexter]

Lotus is the clear donkey of the race. A long pitstop for Kimi and and strategy where he was supposed to drive from lap 7 to finish with the same tires. Permane is the special donkey for publicly cursing at the driver who they owe much of their current success.

[jens]

Pirelli. And whoever is supposed to regulate pollution in the region around the Buddh track. The air certainly didn't look like it lacked sufficient thickness and taste.

Good point about the smog.:D

However, I think I have to disagree about Pirelli this time. At least those vastly different tyre compounds provided some entertainment and very interesting and ambitious strategies. And this time the tyres weren't dangerous nor delaminating either.

[dj_bytedisaster]

Fernando for being absolutely nowhere. Dishonourable mention to Lotus for effing up Kimi's strategy.

[janneppi]

No real donkeys in this race IMO. Lotus wasn't going to win in any strategy, so trying to get Kimi with one stop was a fun idea, maybe the first stop was four laps too soon, but a good effort still.

In many races Pirelli bought too similar compounds to races, but this time I think the difference was bit too great. It was what, 51 laps between the extremes of laps between the two compounds(Vettel vs Kimi).

[steveaki13]

Lotus - For the bizzare Kimi strategy.
DRS - Sooooooooooooo Easy to pass along that back straight. Most of the time not even needing a driver to be brave on the brakes.

A strange situation with the Pirelli tyres too, but maybe not at Donkey levels. As Jens said they were not dangerous just not of much use.

[F1boat]

Permane

[naffnaff]

The stewards for doing their best to be killjoys.

[Koz]

And whoever is supposed to regulate pollution in the region around the Buddh track. The air certainly didn't look like it lacked sufficient thickness and taste.

Delhi is renowned for it's fog. It can last for weeks and months.
Last year from Delhi to the Himalayas, fog from December well into January. In some partsof UP, you literally couldn't see the sun for a month.

[rjbetty]

Kimi, for actually being very rude on the radio to Alan Permane, and in the way that he drove Grosjean off the track.

I lost some respect for Kimi today.

[N4D13]

Kimi, for actually being very rude on the radio to Alan Permane, and in the way that he drove Grosjean off the track.

I lost some respect for Kimi today.
I wouldn't attack Kimi for what he said to Permane since one can understand that he must have been extremely frustrated at that stage of the race. You can't expect everyone to talk sense when they have been driving a F1 car for an hour and a half.

That said, I've always found Kimi to be an unlikeable character and sometimes. I've never understood why people would praise him over lines such as "I was having a sh*t" or "yeah, yeah, I know what I'm doing" - and I remember Pedro de la Rosa claiming how Kimi would throw in the F-word when talking to an engineer. I don't know - people might like him for this, but for me, he just has too big a mouth. Being a bit detached can be cool but Kimi usually goes further than that and he's just unpleasant.

[airshifter]

For me the primary donkeys are the stewards. Both during qualification and the race a lot of drivers were going 4 wheels off on a regular basis, and not just barely off in most cases. Some drivers were almost creating new lines outside the curbs.

IMO if you are racing, be it for position or time, the penalty should apply to the rule. It was obvious drivers were taking very wide lines and going 4 wheels off intentionally and on a regular basis. Why they would impose the rule only when it comes to the actual pass it stupid.


As for Kimi's strategy, some of the race calls had me wondering if that decision wasn't made on the fly.

[Storm]

Delhi is renowned for it's fog. It can last for weeks and months.
Last year from Delhi to the Himalayas, fog from December well into January. In some partsof UP, you literally couldn't see the sun for a month.
pretty much...although this looked too early for the typical foggy winter of Delhi area...Driving is a hazardous thing at the best of times in N. India and especially in the post monsoon times..Most trains/flights get hit every year as well.

[555-04Q2]

Kimi...WTF was he thinking? Must have been dreaming of the cold one he was gonna have after the race!

[jas123f1]

Lotus - For non-existent strategy first for Romain and then Kimi .. He has taken up the Lotus from the middle class team to a state of the team ... and then some id**t is screaming at him - really weak ..

[henners88]

Lotus would have to be the prime donkey in India for me. Letting Kimi stay out so long on his tyres and become a sitting duck is just amateur IMO. I could see why Kimi might be frustrated to see Romain attacking him when he knew how far back he had started. I doubt Kimi would intentionally run his team mate off the track though, so the donkey goes to the team for me rather than the driver.

[keysersoze]

Giedo for managing to successfully navigate 0 corners of the past two races.

And Kimi, of course.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I have read that Red Bull have been fined for Vettels doughnuts and celebration on the pit-straight.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/10/27/article-0-1904AD6400000578-208_634x416.jpg

An iconic image of the whole F1 season. Is a fine really needed?

[steveaki13]

Already been discussed above, but Red Bull got a 21,000 ish fine for not getting their driver and car into Parc Ferme on time while Seb got a reprimand for his donuts.


FIA have to impose all rules at all times if it is listed. Whether it should be listed is another matter.

However I don't think Seb or Red Bull will care at all.

[anfield5]

The race orgainsers for fining Vettel, really guys? Is that necessary?

Me for watching for two hours, when any sane person would have fallen asleep.

Fred for not bringing his car back to the pits at the end of the race (unless I was seeing things, in which case refer to the above point)

[AndyL]

Already been discussed above, but Red Bull got a 21,000 ish fine for not getting their driver and car into Parc Ferme on time while Seb got a reprimand for his donuts.


FIA have to impose all rules at all times if it is listed. Whether it should be listed is another matter.

However I don't think Seb or Red Bull will care at all.

I agree, it seems fair enough to me given how the rules stand. The level of penalty they've imposed clearly isn't going to hurt Vettel or Red Bull, but it might discourage people from doing the same after every race.

[dj_bytedisaster]

You can't really fault the FIA for handing out the reprimand and the fine. It was to weakest available penalty to begin with. A reprimand is merely someone saying "consider yourself punished". They only become important if you manage to collect three of those in a season, which so far only Maldonado in 2012 and Webber this year have managed to do.

Of course it was good to see a driver letting his hair down, but in essence it was still a major breach of the parc-fermé rules. I think the FIA should actually be praised as they immediately took action that allowed them to apply 'special circumstances' and appropriate clemency later on. If you watch the TV pictures, you'll see that two FIA officials hop over the pit wall and sort of 'guard' the RB9 when Vettel climbed out of it. What they effectively did, was ensuring parc-fermé conditions on the start-finish straight. Herby Blash did the same by immediately chaperoning Vettel, when he climbed over the wall to make sure he went to the weight check first. Else they would have been forced to DSQ Vettel, like DTM did with Ekström at the Norisring.

So instead of blasting the FIA for a very light penalty, they should be commended for quickly taking action that the celebration didn't have much of an aftermath. :)

[Storm]

As much as I did not enjoy the same driver winning yet again (and again), I find it silly to say the least of not allowing him to celebrate what is a truly great achievement. Atleast the FIA folks did not drag him in or lift his car off the track etc
Fining a driver for a exuberant display of happiness after a gruelling season (well...not that gruelling atleast in 2013) is the same as a ref giving a yellow card for
removing the jersey in a football match. It is spontaneous and does no harm to anyone.

[Dave B]

I guess the feeling is that if the FIA didn't punish Vettel then sooner or later everybody would be doing donuts - although it's up for debate whether that would necessarily be a bad thing.

[dj_bytedisaster]

I guess the feeling is that if the FIA didn't punish Vettel then sooner or later everybody would be doing donuts - although it's up for debate whether that would necessarily be a bad thing.

As nice as donuts are, they should be a rare thing. That's what makes them so special, isn't it? Frequent donuts would open a can of worms. Imagine for instance, Fernando would have been second on Sunday and would have inherited the win in case of a Vettel DSQ, thus kept the WDC open theoretically for one or two more races. Trust me Ferrari would have protested the parc-fermé infraction and FIA would have had a hard time to dismiss it. As I wrote they immediately jumped in to ensure parc-fermé sort of on the start-finish straight, but there would have been a scarlet shitstorm about it.

What would be wisest would be for FIA to allow every winning driver or drivers with special achievements (for instance first ever podium or first ever points for the team) to celebrate once in a season. The FIA could send out ther folks to secure the car and chaperone the driver to ensure parc-fermé conditions and it would give us a few proper celebrations each year. :D

[Bagwan]

First , I'll say that he deserved what he got because he didn't follow the regs .

Secondly , he risked not making the weight standard by at the end by spinning off the marble pick-up , and hopefully not too closely .
That certainly would have been embarrassing .

That said , though , my idea would be thus :
The FIA brings a special pad to races such as this one , where the championship could be won , and it is reserved for only the winner to do donuts upon .
It would only take a moment to change to a new set of rear tires on the way to the smoke show , and the race set could be saved for parc ferme conditions .

The pad could then be saved for posterity and displayed somewhere to showcase the champions .
I can picture them on a building somewhere , graphically saving the moment .

In F1 terms , I don't even think it would cost that much to do .
I'd sell the idea cheap , Bernie .

[AndyL]

Secondly , he risked not making the weight standard by at the end by spinning off the marble pick-up , and hopefully not too closely .

Not to mention the few extra ounces he lost by throwing his gloves into the crowd!


That said , though , my idea would be thus :
The FIA brings a special pad to races such as this one , where the championship could be won , and it is reserved for only the winner to do donuts upon .
It would only take a moment to change to a new set of rear tires on the way to the smoke show , and the race set could be saved for parc ferme conditions .

The pad could then be saved for posterity and displayed somewhere to showcase the champions .
I can picture them on a building somewhere , graphically saving the moment .

In F1 terms , I don't even think it would cost that much to do .
I'd sell the idea cheap , Bernie .

Yes, I think F1 could definitely do something more to celebrate the winning of the championship. Currently they don't even award the championship trophy in front of the fans.

The British Superbike championship has made some effort in this area in the last couple of years. At the end of the slowing-down lap, the championship winning rider gets directed along the start/finish straight instead of into the pit lane, past air cannons full of confetti and into a scrum of media and celebrating team members. It's nice to have a bit of a show like that in front of the crowds in the grandstands I think. However they do have the advantage of a championship format that almost guarantees it will go down to the last round, so they only need to have it set up at one venue.

Maybe it's right to play things safe and not hand out the silverware until December. This is F1 after all - the championship winner could yet be DQ'ed or retrospectively penalised for an illegal car, spying scandal or other such nonsense!

[Mia 01]

For me it is the Lotus man Permane.

[555-04Q2]

I have read that Red Bull have been fined for Vettels doughnuts and celebration on the pit-straight.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/10/27/article-0-1904AD6400000578-208_634x416.jpg

An iconic image of the whole F1 season. Is a fine really needed?

I keep thinking about this incident. Was it not a great sight to see Seb celebrating the way the superbike guys do :)

I loved it, pity the FIA council have small penises and even smaller brains to fine him :(

[Juppe]

Not to say that Kimi wasn't the donkey of India, but in retrospect it is a bit hard to be accused by the team "not being a team player" when the situation is like this:

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2013/11/01/r ... -not-paid/ (http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2013/11/01/raikkonen-miss-last-two-f1-races-lotus-have-not-paid/)

Behind the scenes stuff may have affected Kimi's attitude towards Permane and the team. If the above is true, it makes Eric Boullier a liar, because earlier he said that Kimi has been paid late - as Kimi here says he has not been at all.

Unfortunate for all parties - we'll see if this is the last race of Kimi this season.