2018 German Grand Prix - Hockenheimring, July 20-22

[Gr1ff]

4d) Except in cases of force majeure (accepted as such by the Stewards), the crossing, in any direction, of the line separating the pit entry and the track by a car entering the pit lane is prohibited.

Arguably, from Hamilton's perspective, there could have been a good reason (e.g. safety related) for the team to tell him to stay out. The question then is; Is this something the team should be penalized for or the driver? They were the ones who gave him conflicting instructions. One could argue that the FIA could reprimand the driver, the team or both. Or a financial penalty. If Hamilton had done so by his own accord, then yes, the question would be why and go from there (e.g. was there justifiable cause). We can do this all day long. Arguably, there could also be the point that with the wet track, Hamilton lost traction, was too fast and got on the grass which prevented him from pitting and ended up back on the track again.

I'm not defending Hamilton or Mercedes here. They did what needed to be done. Simply arguing on how punishable the offense is.

For the record; I found Vettels grid penalty for impeding Sainz in Q2 absolutely outrageous too. It wasn't of consequence to anyone, let alone Sainz and IMO shouldn't have been penalized. A reprimand, fair enough, but not by grid-penalty. I think F1 can be over-regulated at times, much to the detriment of the sport.

Imagine if Vettle was blocked by Sainz in Q3 on his flying lap? How would you feel. I guess because Sainz isn't going for pole it doesn't matter?

[GrayGreat]

You chose to ignore the Ferrari team orders though which is convenient. That kind of points more to your state of mind than mine.

I try to be impartial. If a driver or team are out of order I call them on it.
I have in the past slated Mercedes and Ferrari for team orders.

Team orders at Ferrari. There. I said it. That is all I said about Mercedes as well. I did not say whose orders where good or whose were bad. Happy?

Fine. I hate team orders from everyone. My only point was that you only seemed to want to mention it when 1 team did it. I hate them all the time.

The thing is, when Vettel came out of pits behind Raikkonen, EVERYONE knew Raikkonen will let him go because of difference in strategy and tyre age. So I did not feel like writing something here that is so obvious. But from Mercedes, it was surprising because they constantly advertise equal opportunities for their drivers and not using team orders. That's why I mentioned it. Thankfully, now both teams are even and fans can give it a rest.

I apologise for swearing earlier, I just cannot handle that when you say something against Mercedes, people take it against Hamilton as well, and in favour of Ferrari.

[Andres125sx]

Wow Lewis victory and Seb not scoring any point was probably the most difficult to predict result of the season

Grosjean was on fire on last laps, he passed 3 cars in few laps and scored some points to minimize another poor result for Haas. So fast on Saturdays so weak on Sundays

[Andres125sx]

Team orders debate is boring sincerely, TOs are part of F1, that's the reason the ban was removed

[Sierra117]

I don't understand why the team orders are a big deal here. They were what needed to be done for both teams. Ferrari because of the different strategies and Merc because conditions were insane. With a slower package than Ferrari and a miracle, why throw it away with in-team fighting? Bottas understood it completely. I've lived in Finland and know the people and his tone was that of someone who understood it was the right thing to do for the team.

As a fan of both drivers, I'd have no issue with either of them ahead, but both crashing out would be throwing away a win gifted.

[JonoNic]

Team orders didn't cause Vettel to slide into the sand trap. Hamilton winning was logical as the next track could be difficult for Mercedes. It makes this championship exciting.

[Andres125sx]

Vettel mistake is one of those which may cost a world title...

[JonoNic]

Vettel mistake is one of those which may cost a world title...

Well. I will just have to be positive.

[SchuMassa]

Vettel mistake is one of those which may cost a world title...

FIA's favouritism towards Ham may cost him the title too.

[Big Tea]

Vettel mistake is one of those which may cost a world title...

And, to hammer it home, it was His mistake.
I like Seb, but he would have been better off in Mclaren or Williams of bygone days.

[GrandAxe]

Vettel mistake is one of those which may cost a world title...

I think that should be "mistakes(s)". There's been an unending catalogue of errors from him since last season.
If mistakes could make money, by now Vettel would have opened a kiosk to sell them. Business would be brisk.

[Phil]

Imagine if Vettle was blocked by Sainz in Q3 on his flying lap? How would you feel. I guess because Sainz isn't going for pole it doesn't matter?

Then it'd be a different situation now wouldn't it? The fact however remains, it wasn't in Q3, but Q2 and in the end, it didn't matter, because Sainz qualified for Q3, thus there were no consequences to anyone. If there had been, then yes, the penalty would have been ok (IMO).

[mkay]

And it could rain next weekend too... dear lord

[marvin78]

to be honest: this was a very small mistake at the wrong place. The race winner made mistakes in this race but not in that corner. So the victory is deserved but this Vettel error is not the same as some he made last season. The outcome is bad for him. I don't know any driver who did not make mistakes. But I also am not a fan of one driver and so I see them all and not only that of the ones I "hate".

[Gr1ff]

Imagine if Vettle was blocked by Sainz in Q3 on his flying lap? How would you feel. I guess because Sainz isn't going for pole it doesn't matter?

Then it'd be a different situation now wouldn't it? The fact however remains, it wasn't in Q3, but Q2 and in the end, it didn't matter, because Sainz qualified for Q3, thus there were no consequences to anyone. If there had been, then yes, the penalty would have been ok (IMO).

He may of wanted to start the race on the tyres from his blocked lap?