The F1 thread

Boromedic

gavin_axecaster said:

If anything it'll probably be a fine. You can imagine the uproar if he did get a race ban.
To be honest, while I'm no fan of Vettel, I don't think you should undermine the Stewards' decision after the fact.
If Todt wants a harsher punishment, they should exclude Vettel from the Baku results, setting the precedent for that type of behaviour. Otherwise he will rightly be able to claim being punished twice for the same offence.
Vettel gets the correct punishment and the gap to Hamilton is reduced a little
(Mercedes only have themselves to blame for Hamilton coming in behind Vettel.)

Yeah I think disqualifying him from the Baku race results would be the best and fairest punishment. Although his subsequent denials of wrong doing and refusal to accept fault after the race show a worrying lack of respect for the sport, akin to what fret was saying above about disrepute. Whether its that on top of what he did on track who knows, it will all come out in the end I'm sure!

Fretwired

Boromedic said:

Yeah I think disqualifying him from the Baku race results would be the best and fairest punishment. Although his subsequent denials of wrong doing and refusal to accept fault after the race show a worrying lack of respect for the sport, akin to what fret was saying above about disrepute. Whether its that on top of what he did on track who knows, it will all come out in the end I'm sure!

I guess the new owners might be more social media savvy and be wondering what damage Vettel might do to the sport and Ferrari's image. It's one thing crashing into another driver and then banging wheels, but proclaiming you're right when the stewards have data that says otherwise smacks of arrogance and petulance. Had he, on reflection, said he was in the wrong and apologised to Hamilton I doubt Todt and co would be reopening the issue. Sponsors are more wary these days - publicity is one thing but Facebook and Twitter can quickly descend into angry rant mode. Just look at the racist abuse that gets posted about Hamilton.

I see Bernie's stuck his oar in from the grave and told Ferrari to sign Alonso for 2018.

Boromedic

Yeah I think you might be right Fret, it seems the only logical conclusion as to why its being revisited. I was actually pretty shocked he was still toeing that line afterwards as the telemetry data had been revealed already. Plus the social media angle and Liberty being completely different and hopefully more immune than Bernie was to Ferraris whims.

Hahaha, speaking of the daft old sod I hadn't seen that article, will have to check it out!

DesVegas

I've never seen any racial abuse about Hamilton

harpdoodle

My tuppence worth: The Virtual Safety Car technically, would be useful to employ on the last few laps of a 'free speed' safety car period. 

Let them bunch up under a Safety Car and then have to maintain the gap until the race leader crosses the Start / Finish line. 

chillidoggy

Whether Vettel's 10-second penalty was right or wrong is one thing, but I find it crazy when the punishments handed out just appear to keep on coming. When will it end? It makes the FIA look like a bunch of idiots. If the stewards were at all unsure, they should have parked the decision, and told the FIA to look at the incident, instead of which he's had one punishment, and now faces another. It happened before to Kvyat, they gave him one penalty, then bugger me, five minutes later they changed their minds and gave him another one. FFS, they need to get their shit together with things like this, then draw a line under it.

And I say this without prejudice of any driver's behavior.

fretmeister

chillidoggy said:

Whether Vettel's 10-second penalty was right or wrong is one thing, but I find it crazy when the punishments handed out just appear to keep on coming. When will it end? It makes the FIA look like a bunch of idiots. If the stewards were at all unsure, they should have parked the decision, and told the FIA to look at the incident, instead of which he's had one punishment, and now faces another. It happened before to Kvyat, they gave him one penalty, then bugger me, five minutes later they changed their minds and gave him another one. FFS, they need to get their shit together with things like this, then draw a line under it.

And I say this without prejudice of any driver's behavior.

After event citings work quite well in rugby. They can work in F1 too - if they are done properly.

Fretwired

DesVegas said:

I've never seen any racial abuse about Hamilton

All over the internet .. look at the F1 forums ... I recall a Spanish footballer was sacked by his club last year for abusing Hamilton online.

Fretwired

fretmeister said:

After event citings work quite well in rugby. They can work in F1 too - if they are done properly.

Agree - I'd prefer the FIA ended penalties during a race as it can ruin the action. Punishments can be dished out afterwards in terms of time added on, points deductions or grid penalties at the next race (although I don't like these). I think the points on a licence is a good idea as getting too many gets an automatic ban.

Hoof

chillidoggy said:

Whether Vettel's 10-second penalty was right or wrong is one thing, but I find it crazy when the punishments handed out just appear to keep on coming. When will it end? It makes the FIA look like a bunch of idiots. If the stewards were at all unsure, they should have parked the decision, and told the FIA to look at the incident, instead of which he's had one punishment, and now faces another. It happened before to Kvyat, they gave him one penalty, then bugger me, five minutes later they changed their minds and gave him another one. FFS, they need to get their shit together with things like this, then draw a line under it.

And I say this without prejudice of any driver's behavior

If I remember right, the penalties didn't just destroy Kvyat's race, they destroyed his car too. The mechanics started working on the car after the time penalty in the pitstop but then there was a problem and a fire started, presumably due to the amount of time he'd been sitting there, or something like that.

Nitefly

Grid penalties are idiotic - Alonso was given 40 places at Baku!  How can that work, when only 20 cars start?

Fretwired

Nitefly said:

Grid penalties are idiotic - Alonso was given 40 places at Baku!  How can that work, when only 20 cars start?

He should go so far back that he's at the top of the home straight in front of the pole position car but a lap down. Would make for an entertaining start.  Bonkers.

I'd prefer a financial penalty that hits the team/engine manufacturer - yes the big boys could probably stump up the cash but I'd simply reallocate it to the lower teams so they get more support. It means we could watch a decent race instead of seeing one of the best drivers at the back of the grid because Honda can't build a decent power unit.

sweepy

A Financial Penalty is only effective against smaller teams, Ferrari probably pays its cleaners more than an FIA Fine

chillidoggy

It seems ludicrous when the FIA keep trumping on about the sport costing too much. If a power unit fails, there's sod-all the driver can do about it, and do they really think the teams want engine failures? Of course not, that already costs them dearly. Maybe a team points removal system could work?

Boromedic

Awwwww, thanks Seb...... What a gent you are.

Another PR exercise then, waste of time.

http://m.bbc.com/sport/formula1/40488056

chillidoggy

Well, there's a surprise, eh?

Fretwired

Boromedic said:

Awwwww, thanks Seb...... What a gent you are.

Another PR exercise then, waste of time.

http://m.bbc.com/sport/formula1/40488056

Good to see Todt and Ferrari International Assistance are still maintaining their standards of fair play and integrity. I wonder what would have happened had it been the other way round.

chillidoggy

Hamster - executed by firing squad.

Fretwired

The FIA (and the new media savvy owners) have decided the first press conference on Friday with feature Hamilton, Vettel and Magnussen (he'd better take a book to read). Expect an explosive session as F1 capitalises on the bitter rivalry between the top guys heading the championship.

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/267961/1/hamilton-vettel-to-face-off-in-austrian-gp-press-conference.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

chillidoggy

BBC reporting Silverstone won't be renewing F1 race contract.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/40518666