2014 Belgian GP - Spa-Francorchamps

[dans79]

wtf, I just saw the post race paddock interview, and Nico is doing himself no favors by making the booing about nationality.

The worse part of this is that he is right.

I take it you talked with everyone who booed and learned their nationality, and thus your layer has advised you that you can under penitently of law 100% certify that everyone who booed was British?

[Waywardism]

Davidson on Sky F1 proved Hamilton stayed on the racing line the entire time.

Nobody disagrees with that. So let me repeat it for you before being called a liar again for posting a video and a quote from the rules : Hamilton stayed on the racing line the entire time.

However: The racing line over the kerb that he choose left no space at all for a driver that was alongside of him. ROS could have given up, or HAM could have left just enough space and won the next corner. Instead, ROS decided to stay right there and HAM decided to close the door very hard. That combination lost Mercedes a 1-2 and it is the fault of both their drivers.

And in some ways I really enjoyed watching that since we might now have much more of a fight with Ricciardo at the end which is more exciting to watch than two Mercedes cars storming off into the distance =D>

You can't describe the same move as both "staying on the racing line" and "closing the door very hard" without being hypocritical.

[FoxHound]

wtf, I just saw the post race paddock interview, and Nico is doing himself no favors by making the booing about nationality.

The worse part of this is that he is right.

Nothing to do with the thousands of British people who make the short trip on a bank holiday weekend?

[NTS]

Alongside doesnt mean, front wing inside rear wheel. Its got to be atleast Front Wheel next to rear wheel

The rules disagree with you:

For the avoidance of doubt, if any part of the front wing of the car attempting to pass is alongside the rear wheel of the car in front this will be deemed to be a 'significant portion'.

[NathanOlder]

GUYS, CAN WE JUST STOP REPLYING TO JANO11 BEFORE WE GET THIS TREAD LOCKED.

It's not worth talking to him, he wont accept anyones argument. Don't lower yourself to his/her level

[ChrisM40]

Alongside doesnt mean, front wing inside rear wheel. Its got to be atleast Front Wheel next to rear wheel

The rules disagree with you:

For the avoidance of doubt, if any part of the front wing of the car attempting to pass is alongside the rear wheel of the car in front this will be deemed to be a 'significant portion'.

You keep thinking the rule applies in this case, no one else does.

[jz11]

Watched the incident a few times, Hamilton is as much to blame as Nico. Nico held his line, Hamilton shoot to the outside to slam the door and misjudged it.

Wrong, Davidson on Sky F1 proved Hamilton stayed on the racing line the entire time.

slamming the door sometimes includes exactly that - staying on the racing line, when, if they really wanted to be safe - they should have left some room - by saying this I'm totally not saying that Ros was not to blame, he was the chasing driver, and he DID steer into HAM, you can see control input just before contact was made - but that, in my opinion, was not because he wanted that contact, he simply needed to get to right as soon as possible, since that left apex was closing in really fast and he needed that move so he can stay together with Ham, thus this is indeed a racing incident, where Rosberg simply got VERY lucky he lost just the side plate not the whole wing, it could have gone either way - that is why stewards ruled to take no further action

my own opinion - Ros was to blame, why he even thought Ham would not shut the door is beyond me, and misjudgement of the dimensions of the car itself

that being said - in light of of events that took place in some other races and quali this year - I don't completely rule out some sinister intent involved, but that is just the side of me that believes in conspiracy theories

the more those two (Ham and Ros) bite each other, the better chances are for Ric, but this is probably the last we see Merc drivers really fighting each other, it will be strict team orders from now on, which will probably decide the WDC and ruin the rest of the season completely

[NathanOlder]

Alongside doesnt mean, front wing inside rear wheel. Its got to be atleast Front Wheel next to rear wheel

The rules disagree with you:

For the avoidance of doubt, if any part of the front wing of the car attempting to pass is alongside the rear wheel of the car in front this will be deemed to be a 'significant portion'.

Yeah, so that means Lewis couldnt close him down and push him off. Gues what, at the point of contact Nico had plenty of room to his Left!!! So he could and should have moved away! Think about it

[SectorOne]

Alongside doesnt mean, front wing inside rear wheel. Its got to be atleast Front Wheel next to rear wheel

The rules disagree with you:

For the avoidance of doubt, if any part of the front wing of the car attempting to pass is alongside the rear wheel of the car in front this will be deemed to be a 'significant portion'.

Only problem is you are missing half the rule.

Any driver defending his position on a straight, and before any braking area, may use the full width of the track during his first move, provided no significant portion of the car attempting to pass is alongside his. Whilst defending in this way the driver may not leave the track without justifiable reason.
For the avoidance of doubt, if any part of the front wing of the car attempting to pass is alongside the rear wheel of the car in front this will be deemed to be a 'significant portion'.

There was no straight for the left hander, no braking for the left either as all the braking is done for the right.

20.5 Manoeuvres liable to hinder other drivers, such as deliberate crowding of a car beyond the edge of the track or any other abnormal change of direction, are not permitted.

Cannot be liable for this one as well since he had the racing line.


And again, a fact. Rosberg turns away, THEN TURNS BACK INTO HIS TIRE.

[turbof1]

Davidson on Sky F1 proved Hamilton stayed on the racing line the entire time.

Nobody disagrees with that. So let me repeat it for you before being called a liar again for posting a video and a quote from the rules : Hamilton stayed on the racing line the entire time.

However: The racing line over the kerb that he choose left no space at all for a driver that was alongside of him. ROS could have given up, or HAM could have left just enough space and won the next corner. Instead, ROS decided to stay right there and HAM decided to close the door very hard. That combination lost Mercedes a 1-2 and it is the fault of both their drivers.

And in some ways I really enjoyed watching that since we might now have much more of a fight with Ricciardo at the end which is more exciting to watch than two Mercedes cars storming off into the distance =D>

There is some truth in that. Hamilton did shut the door very hard. Perhaps he expected that Rosberg would back off since there wasn't really a realistic chance to make the pass. So somewhere somehow you can't completely put all the blame on Nico solely.

However, I still feel Nico was too agressive there. There wasn't a chance to make the pass there at that moment. Worse is that if he waited one more lap, he would have had DRS.

All in all, I personally would put a little bit of blame to Hamilton for perhaps too hastingly closing the door, just squeezing Rosberg would have done the job just fine, but Rosberg dived into a gap that wasn't bigger then a mousehole, so overall Rosberg has the most responsibility in it.

[NTS]

You can't describe the same move as both "staying on the racing line" and "closing the door very hard" without being hypocritical.

I tried to say exactly that. Not being a ROS fan (actually don't like the guy at all). But the racing line as quoted by Davidson is a line you can take if there are no other cars. If there is another car you sometimes have to leave some space or hope for them to brake. If they don't brake (silly move by ROS) and you still follow a line that doesn't fit (silly move by HAM) then you both have an accident.

Davidson is a Hamilton fan so he frames his argument carefully by involving "the racing line", which has nothing to do with the fact that both could have avoided this incident and both didn't.

[matt_b]

Who is the standby driver for Mercedes?
Would they impose their own penalty on Rosberg?

Given the performance advantage, their reserve driver could easily finish 2nd, it would be one hell of a punishment for nico though.

[NathanOlder]

Rosberg had a good 6 feet to his left! the door was not shut!

[FoxHound]

Rosberg had a good 6 feet to his left! the door was not shut!

Agree with this....Rosberg had enough room to move further left to still make the corner and not impede Hamilton.
This is exactly why the Merc bosses are fuming.

[Edax]

Watched the incident a few times, Hamilton is as much to blame as Nico. Nico held his line, Hamilton shoot to the outside to slam the door and misjudged it.

There is a nice viewpoint just beyond Malmedy looking back at Kemmel/les Combes. Perhaps you should go there sometime to look at the cars going trough there. It is really a monster of a corner combination.

When you enter les Combes you're done looking in the rear view mirror.

If you want to overtake there you should be screamingly visibly to the car next to you, or not be there at all.