2017 Malaysian Grand Prix

[AndyL]

Sadly it's F1's last visit to Sepang. It's one of the best of the modern circuits IMO and we've seen some exciting races here over the years. Here's hoping for one last classic race.

Surprisingly Mercedes are on the back foot in Friday practice, 6th and 7th in both sessions and some way off the pace. Red Bull topped the wet first session, with Alonso 3rd. Ferrari were fastest in P2, followed by Red Bull and then Alonso again in 5th! Fernando for the win? Perhaps not :)

The second session was cut short after a dislodged drain cover caused Grosjean to suffer a shredded tyre and a trip to the barriers.

[The Black Knight]

Bad luck for Grosjean. This time he would have been totally justified in moaning as he usually does and he didn't, in fairness. Usually he is never justified when he moans.

Mercedes on the backfoot but I think they can turn it around over night. Looks good for RBR but Mercs need to be ahead of them and Ferrari.

[Tazio]

Vettel in a heap 'o trouble

[Tazio]

Bye :wave:

[Tazio]

Alright The Boss!

[The Black Knight]

Savage lap from Hammy! Destroying Bottas in qualifying after the summer break. I'm sure Bottas will improve next year though.

No sympathy for Ferrari from me. Any bad luck they have they thoroughly deserve. Hopefully Max will have a good race tomorrow, he deserves a good run now.

If Lewis wins tomorrow and gets over a 40 point lead then really, barring a Mercedes implosion, it's Lewis championship.

[BigWorm]

Bottas well beaten by Hamilton. Has the new contract made him too relaxed?

Mighty lap by Vandoorne, he has really gotten into a groove.

[zako85]

I can see how all the Vettel and Ferrari haters/Hamilton fanboys are gloating now. Well, you can now enjoy the rest of your completion-free season. How great! Apparently, Ferrari and Vettel truly deserved it as our resident Ferrari and Vettel haters, such as the Black Knight (http://www.motorsportforums.com/member.php?20065-The-Black-Knight), have already well explained it (http://www.motorsportforums.com/showthread.php?39657-2017-Malaysian-Grand-Prix&p=1157047&viewfull=1#post1157047). Well enjoy. What a glorious season for Hamilton. If he wins it, he should tatoo 2017 on his chest, because it was so much deserved, again.

[N4D13]

It's quite surprising to see Vandoorne getting the better of Alonso in quali. I think it's the third time this season, but only the first one when Fernando wasn't going to take a grid penalty due to engine changes. Let's hope to see both Maccas firmly in the points tomorrow.

[The Black Knight]

I can see how all the Vettel and Ferrari haters/Hamilton fanboys are gloating now. Well, you can now enjoy the rest of your completion-free season. How great! Apparently, Ferrari and Vettel truly deserved it as our resident Ferrari and Vettel haters, such as the Black Knight (http://www.motorsportforums.com/member.php?20065-The-Black-Knight), have already well explained it (http://www.motorsportforums.com/showthread.php?39657-2017-Malaysian-Grand-Prix&p=1157047&viewfull=1#post1157047). Well enjoy. What a glorious season for Hamilton. If he wins it, he should tatoo 2017 on his chest, because it was so much deserved, again.

It was a false competition anyway. Vettel should have been banned for the season after Baku. Unfortunately the FIA are a bunch of gutless wonders more concerned with assisting Ferrari than doing what is right.

I consider all of this as karma coming back to bite him. If you'd be happy with a driver that used his car as a weapon against his main rival winning the championship then that says more about you than I could ever write in any post.

Anyway, the season isn't over. It may turn around and, you'd never know, you may get to see Vettel win it yet!

[Jag_Warrior]

I can see how all the Vettel and Ferrari haters/Hamilton fanboys are gloating now. Well, you can now enjoy the rest of your completion-free season. How great! Apparently, Ferrari and Vettel truly deserved it as our resident Ferrari and Vettel haters, such as the Black Knight (http://www.motorsportforums.com/member.php?20065-The-Black-Knight), have already well explained it (http://www.motorsportforums.com/showthread.php?39657-2017-Malaysian-Grand-Prix&p=1157047&viewfull=1#post1157047). Well enjoy. What a glorious season for Hamilton. If he wins it, he should tatoo 2017 on his chest, because it was so much deserved, again.

I've always rather liked Vettel (a true character with a quick wit and seriously quick from Day 1), and I've been a Ferrari fan on & off since the 70's. But yes, his behavior in Baku (and the FIA's resulting wrist tap) caused me to not want to see him win the WDC. With a 1 race ban, I could have called it even in my head. Plus, yes, I am a Hammy Fan (although I'm not a fan of his fashion sense). I've been following him since before he made it to GP2. But I wanted to see a good fight this year that didn't just include two Mercedes doing battle. Up to Baku, I was able to appreciate Vettel's good days, as well as Lewis'. After Baku, not so much. So seeing Vettel getting slapped around by Karma now just seems fitting. His words that Webber didn't deserve to win a few years ago still ring in my head.

Still, I believe tomorrow's race will be a good one. Vettel from the back and the Red Bulls and Kimi are on the pace. Anything could happen - though I hope "anything" doesn't include Hamilton's Mercedes having only 3 wheels attached after turn 1. :eek:

[AndyL]

I got the thread title wrong, apparently it's the "Malaysia Grand Prix" not "Malaysian Grand Prix". Anyway roll on 8AM tomorrow (UK time). Should be entertaining to see how far Vettel can cut through the field. And barring any rain delays, I should be able to get away after the race in time to make the first BTCC race at Brands Hatch :) According to the current forecast, rain is more likely before the race than during.

[Tazio]

It's quite surprising to see Vandoorne getting the better of Alonso in quali. I think it's the third time this season, but only the first one when Fernando wasn't going to take a grid penalty due to engine changes. Let's hope to see both Maccas firmly in the points tomorrow. Fred has gone for more of a race setup!? :confused: ;)

[AndyL]

Morning all :)

Nightmare for Ferrari, looks like Raikkonen won't make the start.

[AndyL]

Good work by Vandoorne... that McLaren made the Williams look very ordinary through the fast corners.

[N4D13]

Fred has gone for more of a race setup!? :confused: ;)
Apparently not. Stoffel is just being a lot faster than 'Nando today. Maybe Fernando has his sights set on 2018 and forgot that he's got a race to run today? :p

[AndyL]

A lot of drivers complaining about each other in incidents today. They all looked like racing incidents to me, apart from that last one that wasn't even during the race!

[AndyL]

Max wants a can of pop in the cool-down room... kids eh :)

[The Black Knight]

Delighted for Max! He deserves this after having such an unlucky season.

34 points in it keeps the championship alive. Good damage limitation by Vettel but what a wholly bizarre incident with Stroll. It appears now as though Mercedes have the 3rd best race car. Suzuka is going to be key to the championship. If Hamilton can win there, game over for the championship.

[BigWorm]

Bottas was the donkey of the race for me, destroyed by Vettel who started P20.

[truefan72]

Delighted for Max! He deserves this after having such an unlucky season.

34 points in it keeps the championship alive. Good damage limitation by Vettel but what a wholly bizarre incident with Stroll. It appears now as though Mercedes have the 3rd best race car. Suzuka is going to be key to the championship. If Hamilton can win there, game over for the championship.

indeed. I think Mercedes have a slight tendency to overdevelop the cars when not necessary. They were in a good zone after Italy but felt the need to go...in yet an other direction... which was masked by the singapore race and exposed fully in Malaysia. so much so that Hamilton decided to revert back to the older setup and spec of the car and honestly, outdrive the given machinery. something that bottas, much to my dissapointment, was not able to do. I was really disappointing with him today in every sense. Couldn't overtake verstappen on the opening lap, could not give ricciardo or vettel any kind of fight and ended up miles behind them. No matter what, at the end of the day he is still driving a mercedes and in this race showed why he was only given a 1-year extension.
anyway, Hamilton did what he could and extended his lead.
congrats to Max, and a big thanks to Ricciardo for holding off Vettel.

Massa, Magnussen and Bottas are my donkeys of the race

[truefan72]

what is Johny Herbert Talking about?
In fact the opposite point is more of the truth that yes, indeed, Rosberg got lucky with his championship against Hamilton rather than showing "how strong" he was.
Funny enough, the championship for Hamilton in 2016 was lost right here in Malaysia, where he completely outclassed his teammate and an annoying car failure while in the lead by 25 seconds caused him to retire. 2016 is what it was, but let's not get it twisted about the quality of rosberg vs Hamilton. and 2017 is further cementing the case of his quality.
SMH

[truefan72]

no further action for the post race incident.
Probably the right outcome.
on to Suzuka.
My favorite track

[The Black Knight]

what is Johny Herbert Talking about?
In fact the opposite point is more of the truth that yes, indeed, Rosberg got lucky with his championship against Hamilton rather than showing "how strong" he was.
Funny enough, the championship for Hamilton in 2016 was lost right here in Malaysia, where he completely outclassed his teammate and an annoying car failure while in the lead by 25 seconds caused him to retire. 2016 is what it was, but let's not get it twisted about the quality of rosberg vs Hamilton. and 2017 is further cementing the case of his quality.
SMH

I think those are reasonable points but Hamilton made some errors last year, especially with his starts. Malaysia cost him the championship but had he drove better at other times throughout the year he could have still been WDC regardless.

This is the first year in F1 that I can really say Lewis Hamilton is driving as one of the greats. He has raised his game and that is obvious from day 1. And his qualifying has just been incredible. I think it's not unreasonable to now consider labelling him as the best qualifier ever.

[AAReagles]

I am a Hammy Fan (although I'm not a fan of his fashion sense).

:laugh:

[AAReagles]

A lot of drivers complaining about each other in incidents today. They all looked like racing incidents to me, apart from that last one that wasn't even during the race!

That's the only complaint I have about the race, was drivers crying over Incidental contact.Though I know that's not something to ever go away.

Other than that I enjoyed the really close scraps continuing throughout much of the race.

[zako85]

Very good race, mostly because nobody expected Red Bulls to beat Mercedes so seemingly easily (behind the scenes, the drinks crew probably did a whole lot of incredible work). I watched the race until the lap 30 and then fell asleep (not because the race was boring, it's just being on the opposite side of the globe and having a few drinks). It looks like I did see all of the best parts of race. This race probably boosted Verstappen's confidence and proved everyone again that he is a real deal.

[zako85]

Up to Baku, I was able to appreciate Vettel's good days

There is no denying that Ferrari and Vettel have collectively screwed up too many times this season since Baku. I can see how Hamilton and Mercedes have the upper hand, and probably well deserved. I just feel dismayed that for a third race in a row we're seeing the possibility of a drivers championship fight to the final race actually fading away. It's just too early in the season.

[zako85]

I consider all of this as karma coming back to bite him. If you'd be happy with a driver that used his car as a weapon against his main rival winning the championship then that says more about you than I could ever write in any post.

Anyway, the season isn't over. It may turn around and, you'd never know, you may get to see Vettel win it yet!

As in my post above, I don't specially root for Vettel. I just want to see the fight going on and on. What delight is in seeing Vettel-Ferrari screw up three or four races in a row (even though they did screw up).

I can see how things have unraveled for Vettel since he used his car to attack (physically) Hamilton in Baku. He probably regrets it now.

[AAReagles]

... I just feel dismayed that for a third race in a row we're seeing the possibility of a drivers championship fight to the final race actually fading away. It's just too early in the season.

I don't mind that so much - because it's happened before, and will happen again of course.


What I don't want to see is blatant BS like what happened in Austria 2002. When %$@#ing Ferrari took away a well earned victory from Rubens Barriccello and handed it off to Schumacher, when he had the wc about sewn up anyways.

[truefan72]

That's the only complaint I have about the race, was drivers crying over Incidental contact.Though I know that's not something to ever go away.

Other than that I enjoyed the really close scraps continuing throughout much of the race.

yup. And it was refreshing (albeit perhaps slightly naive) from Ocon to not complain over the radio, even at the team's behest.
To me, that was actually the only incident that I thought was a clear cut infringement by a driver. Sainz simply barged in to him after a clean overtake.
But credit to Ocon there.

[Bagwan]

Sad for Kimi .
Happy for Max .
Great job by Hammy , for taking Vettel's lesson from the first corner of the last race and applying it here , not fighting too hard with someone not in the real hunt .
Hard fought by Seb , but dopey to get tangled with Lance afterwards , so , maybe didn't learn the lesson from the first corner of the last race .

And , good job by the stewards , not handing out any penalties .

[smsgrafica]

History repeating: Kvyat gets demoted and Verstappen wins the race!

[Tazio]

I Fell asleep 10 minutes before the the start, and woke up during the last lap. I guess I missed a good race!

[AAReagles]

I Fell asleep 10 minutes before the the start, and woke up during the last lap. I guess I missed a good race!

For me to watch an entire race, never mind the usual front runner blow outs, it was good. Top to bottom. Most times I watch 30-45 min., and that's it - because of what's happening (or not rather) on the track. Then come back for the last 5 or so laps left.

As someone pointed out earlier, the Red Bulls showed up, Vettel was on it, and Sergio had a good run as well, especially early in the race - a result of his notably good start.

I was mostly impressed with so many close quarter wheel-to-wheel combat taking place on the track sections where the corners are tight and a bit narrow, that there weren't more collisions. This was some really good driving. Really good show - except for Stroh not paying attention on the last lap.

[AndyL]

yup. And it was refreshing (albeit perhaps slightly naive) from Ocon to not complain over the radio, even at the team's behest.
To me, that was actually the only incident that I thought was a clear cut infringement by a driver. Sainz simply barged in to him after a clean overtake.
But credit to Ocon there.

Hadn't he been scolded earlier in the race, for speaking out of turn on the radio? That might have had some influence. I seem to recall he complained about Perez after the start and from the response it sounded like he's not supposed to be airing Force India's dirty laundry in public any more.

[mr_swiss]

I Fell asleep 10 minutes before the the start, and woke up during the last lap. I guess I missed a good race!

I really like the NBCSN sports app.
First thing in the morning, coffee and F1

[Jag_Warrior]

I really like the NBCSN sports app.
First thing in the morning, coffee and F1

Completely off topic, but what happened to the F2 races and the various post-race interviews that used to be on the NBCSN app???

[Bagwan]

New conspiracy theory out has it that Vettel caused the post-race incident with Stroll to be able to circumvent being penalized for changing out his gearbox for the next race .

Times for Seb in the last few laps went up 5 seconds , leading thought that they were nursing it to the end .

Strange that there doesn't seem to be any video of the actual incident .

Plausible theory , but it would have taken some quick thinking from either Seb or his team to come up with the idea at that moment , so it , perhaps , would have had to be an idea they talked about in advance .

Good gambit , if it was indeed that , as it seems there will be no punishment for either for the incident , and special dispensation for a new box for Suzuka .

[AndyL]

Nice theory :D Seems unlikely though... there was some movement from Stroll involved in the collision, which Vettel couldn't have anticipated.

[Bagwan]

Nice theory :D Seems unlikely though... there was some movement from Stroll involved in the collision, which Vettel couldn't have anticipated.

All I saw was a shot of Stroll ahead , then a shot of Vettel without his left rear attached , which implies that he passed Lance , then either Stroll accelerated into him , or he slowed down .
Have you seen any replay of the incident ?

[Bagwan]

I've just read that the box is fine , and all is well , so the "Great Gearbox Gambit" seems to be a no go .

Good rehearsal for a play in the future , though .

And , I'd still like to see a replay .

[Big Ben]

New conspiracy theory out has it that Vettel caused the post-race incident with Stroll to be able to circumvent being penalized for changing out his gearbox for the next race .

Times for Seb in the last few laps went up 5 seconds , leading thought that they were nursing it to the end .

Strange that there doesn't seem to be any video of the actual incident .

Plausible theory , but it would have taken some quick thinking from either Seb or his team to come up with the idea at that moment , so it , perhaps , would have had to be an idea they talked about in advance .

Good gambit , if it was indeed that , as it seems there will be no punishment for either for the incident , and special dispensation for a new box for Suzuka .

I don't know about that but to me it looked like it was Vettel who clearly crashed into Stroll. I have no idea how can this be put on the Williams driver.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIy_U1vPK9k

the replay starts at about 1:10

[Big Ben]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wet4dzygkTU&t=0s

this one's from another perspective. Here you can see better Stroll moving to the right but the movement looks worse because Grosjean's car moves at the same time harder to the left. Stroll could have used those mirrors more but the Vettel was a moron to try cut across like that.

[Bagwan]

Read the comments after those videos(by the way , thanks for those) to see most people blame young Stroll , but I'm with you there Ben .

Most , especially after getting the Grosjean view , called for Lance to use his mirrors , but that may have actually been what he was doing , but watching Romain , who had just appeared behind him , instead of Seb .

If we look at what happened here , we see that Sebastian was in the process of making a pass on the cool down lap around the outside .

He would have known , since he was on the outside , picking up marbles , himself , that others would want to do this .
Thus , the likelihood of Stroll , or anyone else , for that matter , at that point , was good that he'd move to the right when he thought it safe , to take advantage of those marbles .

If Lance did know he was there , he would likely have expected Seb to be out wide , in those marbles , not tightening to the inside , where Lance was , off of them .
And , he wouldn't have expected a pass in a reasonably tight corner .
Neither of them were at race speed , so there wasn't any danger of a slide from either .

That was another unnecessary risk that Vettel took .
He's no rookie .

[airshifter]

After seeing that view from the video Big Ben posted, I place the blame on Vettel to at least 90% or so. He makes a much bigger move than the other videos show. Trashing cars after the race can't go over really well with the team.


Overall an interesting race. I was surprised to see the RB cars so strong, but with the changes apparently the handling is making up for the power disadvantage. Max didn't waste any time at all, and it appears that the aero advantage of running up front is still fairly solid. Great clean side by side racing when Ricciardo and Bottas came together on track. As for Seb, that was a mighty charge through the pack, but at the end not much left for the front runners.

Ferrari really hurt themselves on this one. I think the car was a good package for this track, and having Kimi out after Seb's troubles really cost them a lot of points.

I'm still up in the air on Vandoorne... fluke or a sign of things to come? The guy scored points on his F1 debut, and being in a team with Fred surely makes a lot of great drivers look not so great. I'm not sure if Alonso had any issues or went more towards a wet setup, but I think this one is worth keeping an eye on.

[zako85]

After seeing that view from the video Big Ben posted, I place the blame on Vettel to at least 90% or so.


I have seen that, and I don't know if I could place even 51% of blame on Vettel. If you watch the video again, after entering the left turn on the inside, Stroll starts unexpectedly going wide towards the outside of the turn, and that's when he is hit by Vettel. If only Stroll committed to the line he was already following inside the turn, none of its would have happened.

[Bagwan]

New video from Stroll's view , apparently unseen by the stewards at the time of the inquiry , has shown that Stroll was clearly turning away from a collision prior to being hit by Sebastian coming across his bow .

I haven't seen the video , myself , but rather , a bunch of stills from Lance's onboard which clearly show what happened .

The Canadian boy is absolutely not guilty in this incident .

[The Black Knight]

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/11067518/sky-sports-f1-exclusive-new-footage-of-sebastian-vettel-lance-stroll-crash-released

The new video that wasn't available to the stewards at the time. Clearly shows Stroll wasn't at fault. How convenient it wasn't available to the Stewards throughout their inquiry.

It was in the end a brain fart by Vettel.

[truefan72]

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/11067518/sky-sports-f1-exclusive-new-footage-of-sebastian-vettel-lance-stroll-crash-released

The new video that wasn't available to the stewards at the time. Clearly shows Stroll wasn't at fault. How convenient it wasn't available to the Stewards throughout their inquiry.

It was in the end a brain fart by Vettel.

for those (like me) outside the UK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAWMzEFksYs

Clearly Seb's fault and like you said how convenient the footage wasn't available at the time.
I'm pretty sure it was but they just didn't want to see it simply to give Ferrari and Vettel yet another pass.
And once again Seb takes no responsibility and absurdly rants about Stroll when he was driving way too fast in the bloody cooldown lap and rams into the Williams.
Even if this footage was available at the time, i have zero confidence the Stewards would have done anything anyway
"vettel promised not do do it again" would have been their reasoning for no penalty.

[AndyL]

Ferrari are apparently re-using the same gearbox at Suzuka, having sent it back to Maranello for a detailed inspection, so at least they haven't been given a pass on a new gearbox.

[The Black Knight]

for those (like me) outside the UK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAWMzEFksYs

Clearly Seb's fault and like you said how convenient the footage wasn't available at the time.
I'm pretty sure it was but they just didn't want to see it simply to give Ferrari and Vettel yet another pass.
And once again Seb takes no responsibility and absurdly rants about Stroll when he was driving way too fast in the bloody cooldown lap and rams into the Williams.
Even if this footage was available at the time, i have zero confidence the Stewards would have done anything anyway
"vettel promised not do do it again" would have been their reasoning for no penalty.

Actually, I think there is more to this than we have realised. I think Seb caused this intentionally because he was marginal on fuel. By smashing into Stroll and destroying his car, he avoided having to provide a fuel sample at the end of the race. Now the incident itself you could overlook but credence is added when you take into account that he took the steering wheel with him, which I'd imagine is because he didn't want any official to see he was that low on fuel in the dashboard readouts. It's
the only other way he could have been caught.

So there are few things here which, once again, clearly show Stewards bias favouring Ferrari:

A) Vettel should have been punished and received a penalty in Japan for removing the steering wheel - a glaringly obvious action that was conveniently overlooked by the Stewards.
B) He got away without having his fuel sample tested which would probably have resulted in race disqualification.
C) Footage which shows he was clearly to blame was conveniently unavailable to the Stewards at the time of inquiry.

One of these by itself isn't enough to raise an eyebrow- all of them together and it once again shows Ferrari being favoured by the Stewards.

[yodasarmpit]

The onboard from Strolls car certainly brings a new interpritation, I had originally thought Stroll was to blame, but that certainly looked like Vettel drove into him. Regardless it was a really odd incident.

[onemanband]

Actually, I think there is more to this than we have realised. I think Seb caused this intentionally because he was marginal on fuel. By smashing into Stroll and destroying his car, he avoided having to provide a fuel sample at the end of the race. Now the incident itself you could overlook but credence is added when you take into account that he took the steering wheel with him, which I'd imagine is because he didn't want any official to see he was that low on fuel in the dashboard readouts. It's
the only other way he could have been caught.

So there are few things here which, once again, clearly show Stewards bias favouring Ferrari:

A) Vettel should have been punished and received a penalty in Japan for removing the steering wheel - a glaringly obvious action that was conveniently overlooked by the Stewards.
B) He got away without having his fuel sample tested which would probably have resulted in race disqualification.
C) Footage which shows he was clearly to blame was conveniently unavailable to the Stewards at the time of inquiry.

One of these by itself isn't enough to raise an eyebrow- all of them together and it once again shows Ferrari being favoured by the Stewards.

A) Of course the regulations say that the steering wheel must remain in place, but it could not be refitted and was of no use to the stewards anyways.
Also, after an accident, presumably, all the power gets turned off in the car to prevent anyone getting electrocuted or short circuits starting a fire so the display on the steering wheel would be turned off.
B) Do you have any source at all that they didn't take a fuel sample from the Ferrari?

[onemanband]

for those (like me) outside the UK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAWMzEFksYs

Clearly Seb's fault and like you said how convenient the footage wasn't available at the time.
I'm pretty sure it was but they just didn't want to see it simply to give Ferrari and Vettel yet another pass.
And once again Seb takes no responsibility and absurdly rants about Stroll when he was driving way too fast in the bloody cooldown lap and rams into the Williams.
Even if this footage was available at the time, i have zero confidence the Stewards would have done anything anyway
"vettel promised not do do it again" would have been their reasoning for no penalty.

I kind of agree that Seb was at fault himself for going too close to Stroll but i can somewhat understand that.
First, Seb was not going that fast at all, they were moving in a 3 car group, all with similar speed (Grosjean, Stroll and Seb) until Stroll lifts off before the corner and downshifts.
Second, in the extended footage of the Skypad analysis, you could see that they also showed Ocon's actions at the same corner - Ocon stayed out of the racing line pretty much at all times and there was no doubt he would be collecting marbles. Meanwhile Stroll went somewhat on the racing line until the corner entry, then slowed down considerably and didn't follow the radius of the corner when turning in to go to collect rubber on the outside. If you try to put yourself in Seb's head I think it was very easy for him to think that Stroll was going to keep on the racing line.
My verdict would be that Stroll's actions were confusing but still, as it was a cooldown lap, something like that could be expected and Seb didn't need to leave so little space.

EDIT: Link for the extended footage https://streamable.com/zmuj2

[Bagwan]

Actually, I think there is more to this than we have realised. I think Seb caused this intentionally because he was marginal on fuel. By smashing into Stroll and destroying his car, he avoided having to provide a fuel sample at the end of the race. Now the incident itself you could overlook but credence is added when you take into account that he took the steering wheel with him, which I'd imagine is because he didn't want any official to see he was that low on fuel in the dashboard readouts. It's
the only other way he could have been caught.

So there are few things here which, once again, clearly show Stewards bias favouring Ferrari:

A) Vettel should have been punished and received a penalty in Japan for removing the steering wheel - a glaringly obvious action that was conveniently overlooked by the Stewards.
B) He got away without having his fuel sample tested which would probably have resulted in race disqualification.
C) Footage which shows he was clearly to blame was conveniently unavailable to the Stewards at the time of inquiry.

One of these by itself isn't enough to raise an eyebrow- all of them together and it once again shows Ferrari being favoured by the Stewards.

That's the other conspiracy theory I've read about .
The first was the gearbox , but the steering wheel fits with the fuel gauge aspect added in .

All in all , a pretty clever gambit , if that's what it was .
I'm not sure how they managed to keep the footage from Stroll's car away from them at the time , but I did read they weren't able to access the data until they had his actual car back in the garage .
Whether this was because of the incident or just a glitch in the system , I don't know , but it was given as a possible reason it wasn't available for the stewards .

I think it more likely they didn't see it , and thus , made the call that they couldn't believe it would have been intentional from either driver .
I don't see Ferrari being favoured by the FIA here . I don't think the bad smell is coming from them , although the idea of a close championship must be somewhere in the mix .

The idea of tagging a rookie to keep your car out of parc ferme is a pretty "Flavio" thing to do .
Are Seb and his team really guilty of that ?

[truefan72]

That's the other conspiracy theory I've read about .
The first was the gearbox , but the steering wheel fits with the fuel gauge aspect added in .

All in all , a pretty clever gambit , if that's what it was .
I'm not sure how they managed to keep the footage from Stroll's car away from them at the time , but I did read they weren't able to access the data until they had his actual car back in the garage .
Whether this was because of the incident or just a glitch in the system , I don't know , but it was given as a possible reason it wasn't available for the stewards .

I think it more likely they didn't see it , and thus , made the call that they couldn't believe it would have been intentional from either driver .
I don't see Ferrari being favoured by the FIA here . I don't think the bad smell is coming from them , although the idea of a close championship must be somewhere in the mix .

The idea of tagging a rookie to keep your car out of parc ferme is a pretty "Flavio" thing to do .
Are Seb and his team really guilty of that ?

I'm not sure it goes as deep as Black Knight's Theory
But something is fishy for sure. Out of all the issues brought up, the one about the steering wheel beckons for more questions.
Whatever the case, to me this is the 3rd time this year alone that Vettel has got away scott free with dubious to malicious incidents that most other drivers would have been penalized.
And yes, i do think the idea of a close championship ( or at the very worst, stewards reluctant to interfere with the championship) is clouding the judgement of official from race stewards to the fIA themselves. The special relationship the Ferrari has with the FIA is also a huge factor that cannot be overlooked.
I just hope that F1's new owners can finally usher in a new profit sharing scheme (along with hopefully the addition of 2 new teams) and finally put an end to this lopsided relationship. If Ferrari don't like the fact that almost 30 years of an unfair and biased payment arrangement in their favor is coming to an end then by all means leave.

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Quali dawgz. It should be an interesting session, Kimi with a gearbox change and resultant penalty!
Fred has a 35 grid place penalty for new power unit!

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Rogro plants it in the wall!!

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Ba ba ba ba ba Boss 127.8!:eek: ;)

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Congratulations to Lewis on his first pole at Suzuka!