@Titntin the reality is they have never really dealt with his temper, they give him a slap on the wrist and let him go. Needs points on his license to stop him doing it again. Checking he’s already on 8 and in danger of a 1 race ban.
Anyway… breathe. Exciting race. I was enjoying the split strategies before the safety car, but as usual that put the cat amongst the pigeons.
Wonder if Red Bull would have been better to leave Max out on older tires. Would he have been passed by 3 cars? (Let alone the penalty) giving him Hards was never going to work with his being unable to accept being overtaken. It was like throwing a match into tinder box.
Will be interesting to see what the stewards think but I’d expect George to get a penalty, he definitely came in too hot and caused a collision, but not Charles which i think was a Racing incident, they were both squeezing to stay in slip-stream / get the angle for her corner. But max never concedes ground.
To me, it seems that Max wanted to do to George what he felt George did to him in turn one. He's annoyed George has gained by making contact in a corner, so as soon as he felt he had let George pass he lunged back to make an overtake 'with contact' thinking it should be deemed the same.
Of course the 2 events aren't the same and Max has let his temper get the better of him again.
@BearsEatBeets exactly this. I CAN understand the frustration, George was at fault in turn 1, but as you said it’s not the same. One is going for a legitimate gap that is there and locking up and having a collision. It’s a 5 sec penalty for George for me. The other is vindictively driving into a driver to retaliate. That’s a black flag for me.
@themightyant It normally closes a lap or 2 before the end so was probably already ahead in the vote when it happened. If the fans had any sense it should have been Hulkenburg (in my humble opinion).
@BearsEatBeets@Titntin I watched all this again. Genuinely surprised George didn't get a penalty. He undoubtedly DID cause a collision, so I thought this was a no brainer 5s penalty for consistency. Would have been harsh to put him back 4-5 places but usually they don't factor in what the outcome is, just the incident. No consistency.
Charles v Max on the straight was a racing incident imo. Charles was TRYING to push Max to the left, which happens the whole time, the drivers jostle each other for a better line, the difference is we know Max doesn't yield. Though i'm not saying he should yield ground, there is no problem standing his ground here and just going straight, which is what he did. Every other driver would have conceded a few inches, and Charles assumed he would, but with Max that meant a collision. Max simply won't be bullied off his line and would often rather a crash than yield ground. I can respect that at times like this, but not at other times. Technically Charles is at fault here, but i'd still say it was a racing incident.
So I can understand Max being peeved, the safety car this week hasn't helped him (yet it did a few races ago), he was a sitting duck on hard tires, two rivals just shunted him, but this is the luck of racing - win some lose some - but what you can never do is see red and deliberately ram a car like he did. 10s penalty is a joke imo. 3 penalty points puts him on 11 (max 12 then a 1 race ban) until 30 June where he loses 2. So he has to be squeaky clean for the next 2 races.
@Zazu I think if it was Stroll we MIGHT put it down to stupidity, like when he weaved across the road under blue flags twice during Monaco practice… But not really.
INTENT is the difference here. While we can’t see inside Max’s head, it’s clear to anyone that has seen him drive and the unbelievable control he has of his vehicle, that this was a deliberate act. Is there ANY doubt? I don’t think so. He shunted George’s car deliberately. Whether out of sheer anger, or to make a statement that “anything you can do”, doesn’t really matter, it was a deliberate ram of another car and that can’t happen in an F1 car where drivers put their lives at risk at hundreds of miles an hour. The same rule should apply to all.
I think the problem with Max is we’ve seen this sort of behaviour before and they’ve let it slide without stiffer penalties so he never learns, he’s like the kids with parents that molly-coddle them and they never improve.
My word this is a bizarre qualifying so far. Where has this Aston pace come from? I know they are using Mediums but still.
Crazy flaw with the Williams there.
EDIT: The 'super' soft is certainly mixing up qualifying. Very mixed grid and congrats to George, excellent lap. Looking forward to tomorrows race.
Russell and Verstappen on the front row. This could get tasty! Loved George’s barb during the post quali chat. Lol. My money would still be on Max elbowing his way past regardless. Will George stand up to him?
Lando and Charles both slipping up. Unusual. But Advantage Piastri.
@Titntin was really interesting seeing the onboards of the top drivers. Both the McLarens and the Ferrari drivers were having to work really hard to keep the car going where they wanted. McLaren easier but not as easy as usual. By comparison both Mercedes drivers were making a lot fewer corrections. Will be interesting to see if that translates to race pace, and how that evolves over the distance. These cars are on such a performance knife edge that it can change over the race now.
Yuki was having a torrid time, that car looks a handful for him, for Max too but he seemingly finds it much easier far less see-sawing. Thought a 10 place grid penalty was harsh for Yuki considering mitigating circumstances of the broken McLaren but that isn’t going to do his confidence or job security and favours.
If you were Isak Hadjar and were offered the Red Bull seat what would you do?
OMG what has Norris done! First instinct is that wasn’t a gap to go for. Huge point swing in the championship, assuming Piastri doesn’t have a puncture.
Too many mistakes from Lando, we keep saying it, but if he wants to be world champion he can’t keep doing this.
Not sure we’ll race considering how long it takes them to clear this year. Shame.
Yeah that's a huge mistake and ruined what was turning into an epic finish. Looks like a split second decision to look for a gap and it was already to late when he saw it wasn't there.
EDIT: Well done George and Kimi. Wasn't sure if the warmer temps were going to spoil it for them but they both drove well.
@BearsEatBeets Just felt like Lando was trying to force it because he’s feeling the pressure and knows he’s in a championship fight where every point may count. Could have been an 8 point gap, but with the misjudgment now it will be 22. With how consistent Oscar is this year that’s a big gap. Too many errors from Lando.
Always a shame to have a finish under a safety car, especially when it looked like there would be wheel to wheel racing.
Kimi likely benefitted as if the two McLarens weren’t fighting they were a lot faster not sure he would have finished on the podium, but great race, great weekend from him.
Max maximising his points again and good to see Mercedes with a win. Solid weekend all round for them.
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