Hammerfist wrote: ↑29 Jul 2023, 22:55
Yea thats baloney sorry. That is not what it says in the rule book. There is no such definition of the defending car being ahead after the apex. You just nade that up? Here is the rule quoted from a planet f1 article regarding the matter:
(...)
Basically you must leave enough room on exit if someone is alongside you. Plain and simple. Its not like hamilton was not in control and pushed him off the track. He made contact because perez did not use all the available track. Theres always going to be understeer in that corner. Perez being a f1 caliber driver should anticipate it. Once you lose the inside line you have to recognize that you are in a defensive situation and your goal should be to avoid contact, not trying to save what is lost desperately trying to squeeze a car whose momentum is always going to go wide. Thats just dumb driving. I mean you can see hamiltons car from perezs onboard before he decides to turn in anyway. The fact hamiltons car is visible from the onbiard camera shows how far alongside he was. The fact perez got ahead before contact is a result of him faking an advantage he never had.
Alonso pulled a similar move with hamilton in bahrain. Different corner i know but hamilton conceded because alonso was too far alongside. Had hamilton squeezed there there would have been contact and the same stewards would have probably penalized alonso. That doesnt make it right though.
So first of all, this is my first post here, so i should put a Disclaimer that I'm not a troll account. I've been in the Discord a few weeks participating in the race discussion. I'm also making this post to educate people on the rules, and not to fanboy for either Red Bull or Mercedes. Just wanted to make that clear before the rest of my post.
So with that out of the way: What you just wrote here is a gross misinterpretation of the rules.
Your argument is essentially, that Perez, being on the outside, should be forced to take a wide line because he doesn't have the inside. But that's not what the rules say at all. If you're gonna quote the relevant rules here, you should quote all of it:
Nowhere there does it support your supposition that Perez should take the wide line. Perez, being the leading driver,
can take any line he wants as long as he gives Hamilton sufficient space (ie, don't run/squeeze him off the track).
Rather, the rules make it very clear, that it is on the overtaking car - in this case Hamilton - to perform the overtake
(QUOTE) in a safe and controlled manner (UNQUOTE). Understeering into the other car is neither safe, nor controlled. Hence why Hamilton was penalized.
This is no different than Silverstone 2021. I still see people argue that Verstappen had 3 cars space on his left at Copse. But that isn't relevant. Verstappen and Perez in these two incidents are not, at any point, required to take the wide line. I'm honestly curious where this interpretation of the rules comes from. It seems to be something F1 fans have invented randomly, probably to fit their narrative. But i can assure you that it isn't the case. As long as the cars (which can be both of them) have earned the right to space, they can take any racing line they want as long as sufficient space is given, and the overtaking car fulfills his obligation to perform the overtake safely.
Now, there could be mitigating factors that could make this a racing incident. The first is that Hamilton was slightly compromised/squeezed in the corner just before the contact. Now Perez didn't squeeze him out of the track, so he was left enough space. But his exit was compromised. The Stewards did note this in the
penalty document, but decided this wasn't enough to alleviate him of his responsibility for the collision. The other could be a wet track. However, the track in this case was quickly drying, and therefore very driveable. To use that as a defense, you pretty much have to be aquaplaning.
-
I was also curious about your comparison to Hamilton and Alonso in Bahrain, so i went back and rewatched both of these. And assuming you mean Fernandos overtake on Lap 38: And there's absolutely nothing there. In the first corner on lap 38, Alonso initially looks to go for an outside overtake, but isn't far enough along to be entitled to space. However, that is completely irrelevant, as he doesn't attempt an overtake on the outside, but rather does a complete switch to the inside, and instantly gets up on Hamiltons side going into the second corner.
Having the inside on the second corner, he completely ofsets Hamilton. Hamilton in that corner, being on the outside, is not entitled to any space, as he - by the guidelines above - has to be fully alongside Alonso from the Apex of the corner, which he - as the picture below clear demonstrates - isn't in any way, shape of form.
The long and short of it is that this is a slam dunk penalty for Hamilton. He was left enough space, but understeered into Perez. And Perez is NOT obliged to go wide - he's only obliged to not squeeze Hamilton. The overtaking car has the responsibility to perform the overtake in a safe and controller manner.
