2019 Italian Grand Prix - Monza, Sep 06 - 08

[mzso]

Dry race:
1. Ham
2. Bot
3. Vet

Full wet race:
1. Ver
2. Ham
3. Bot

Mixed race/safety car(s)...all likely:
1. ???
2. ???
3. ???

So the pole man has no chance of snatching the podium?

Telemetry data suggests not...Merc (and maybe RB) race pace likely to prevail. If wet...no chance.

Hah! Well, Leclerc won. Though there was no rain.

[drunkf1fan]

Leclerc has done nothing wrong, Hamilton was again -from the outside oh Lord, from the outside to a corner like that- trying to pull of some theatrical moves to impress the stewards like he did in Canada... he even brake a lot earlier to make it seem dramatic.... look at Sainz vs Albon... what a joke the way some think... Shamilton did try to pull a rabbit out of a hat again... he deserves an oscar

if you watch last years Monza, Hamilton today tried to pull off exactly the same move, didn't work out... I'm not defending LeClerc, that was a very marginal move, Verstappen-style defense, VER doesn't get penalties for these things, so stewards were actually consistent for once

my personal opinion - stewards wanted to avoid race win deciding penalties for moves like these, black/white flag was the right choice, BUT, I think the same black/white flag should be used when they push the other guy off the track on the exit when he is almost wheel to wheel, but Max "made" that legal, so that is how it is now

You do know Max literally got a penalty for such a not leaving a cars width in Monza last year right?

As for the idea Hamilton was trying to do something theatrical 'like Canada'... lol. he braked earlier to seem dramatic? lol, what? He got alongside, then didn't have the pace to pull around, if Leclerc braked early corner is his, instead he gave it up which is apparently being dramatic, but then Leclerc needlessly squeezed him.

Stewards were tight and probably didn't follow up the black and white flag considering he then cut a corner and weaved hard at a dangerous part of the track. But it's Monza and they didn't want to get stabbed leaving the track for being why Ferrari didn't win again.

Leclerc was no where near, completely different ball park to what Vettel did in Canada and to call Canada Hamilton being dramatic, lol(I know it was the guy you quoted), absolutely crazy. Car going crazy slow and Hamilton is expected to slam on the brakes to avoid someone who puts himself on the racing line while going too slow.

[Restomaniac]

Whilst thinking ‘I can push somebody off? COOL!’.

You would think he must have already gotten that message after Max's antics in Austria. Leclerc did get the message right away. Hamilton should stop whining.

Or as an experienced Driver who has seen inconsistent stewarding in the past he was awfully sceptical.

TBH the last 4 words in that post screams impartiality from yourself though.

[RZS10]

But it's Monza and they didn't want to get stabbed leaving the track for being why Ferrari didn't win again.

That's exactly what Toto Wolff said, stewards would have needed a police escort had they penalized Leclerc

[i70q7m7ghw]

[Steven]

To those who are now frustrated, let's look at the bigger picture...

Leclerc and the tifosi are happy. Leclerc's performances have also enabled us to underline what a lousy job Vettel is doing recently (not sure if we can this timespan "recent" anymore though).

But, Hamilton is probably not making a big theatre, because he is well aware that the coming races will, or could be a walkover for Mercedes, and that he has no reason to worry about anything.

As for the stewards... it's also clear from the penalties after qualifying that they're being more strict in F3 and F2. You could argue these drivers still need to learn, and prove they are ready for F1. Perhaps in F1, they assume they all know what they're doing (I beg to differ, but it might be part of the reasoning for becoming more lenient).

Anyway guys, don't get worked up. It was a good race, and that alone, we can be happy with too

[Wynters]

Wasnt the conclusion after Canada that we (the sport) wanted harder racing with less steward intervention? That’s exactly what we got today.

Perhaps there's a difference between cheating and racing?

I saw Stroll trying to overtake Vettel after Vettel's spin and, ridiculously, I see Vettel got a penalty for defending his position! People just don't want 'hard racing' and 'less steward intervention'. It's even more ridiculous that Stroll got a penalty for Gasly, he didn't even hit him! /s

If there weren't rules against what LeClerc did, then it would be hard racing. But there are. If he contravenes the rules, then he's cheating. It's pretty simple, no?

[dans79]

It was a good race, and that alone, we can be happy with too

Personally, I don't find races where the winner is allowed to blatantly cheat and disregard both written and unwritten rules good racing.

[Wynters]

All credit to LeClerc though. He realised earlier that the rules are irrelevant, it's only the Stewards that matter. Top players play to the whistle in other sports, they'd be stupid not to do the same in F1 and that's what he did. He played to the whistle.

[dans79]

All credit to LeClerc though. He realised earlier that the rules are irrelevant, it's only the Stewards that matter. Top players play to the whistle in other sports, they'd be stupid not to do the same in F1 and that's what he did. He played to the whistle.

Lewis mentioned as much today, so I'm sure we'll hear lots of crying from the other side when he starts to play to the same rules.

[Restomaniac]

All credit to LeClerc though. He realised earlier that the rules are irrelevant, it's only the Stewards that matter. Top players play to the whistle in other sports, they'd be stupid not to do the same in F1 and that's what he did. He played to the whistle.

Lewis mentioned as much today, so I'm sure we'll hear lots of crying from the other side when he starts to play to the same rules.

To which the reply should be ‘You live by the sword, you die by the sword’.

[dans79]

All credit to LeClerc though. He realised earlier that the rules are irrelevant, it's only the Stewards that matter. Top players play to the whistle in other sports, they'd be stupid not to do the same in F1 and that's what he did. He played to the whistle.

Lewis mentioned as much today, so I'm sure we'll hear lots of crying from the other side when he starts to play to the same rules.

To which the reply should be ‘You live by the sword, you die by the sword’.

I think I'd go the Alonso route and just say ”karma”

[mzso]

I've been saying for a while that the those headrests are stupid and dangerous, because they block the driver's vision too much, this race exemplified it perfectly.
I wonder how many more years will it take the FIA to realize this obvious fact.

They should just remove them Put a up a windshield and extend it to the sides and even back. That way drivers get their peripheral vision back.
They can add some foam under the eye-line if the really feel the need for it. Otherwise they should just improve the HANS for side impacts.

[zeph]

From a sporting perspective, I’m glad Leclerc wasn’t penalized for cutting turn 2 on lap 36, but it was eerily similar to what happened with Vettel in Canada.

[Manoah2u]

I've been saying for a while that the those headrests are stupid and dangerous, because they block the driver's vision too much, this race exemplified it perfectly.
I wonder how many more years will it take the FIA to realize this obvious fact.

They should just remove them Put a up a windshield and extend it to the sides and even back. That way drivers get their peripheral vision back.
They can add some foam under the eye-line if the really feel the need for it. Otherwise they should just improve the HANS for side impacts.

you're saying really rediculous things for a while then.
I wonder how many years it will take for you to actually reasonably think about it.
Scratch that, if you come up with 'foam' solutions, then, well. geesh.

Vettel made another braindead move. There were a dozen ways he could have went back to the track.
one to start with would be not keeping the wheels pointed the same way as his nose, sideways on the track.
It 'only' took a life last race to see why you don't do that . Second, it would have taken NOT slamming your
foot pedal to the metal on the grass and having to take up all the tarmac to then get in direction whilst making
a kamikaza move.

ALL IT TOOK would have been angling his front tires to the right, then making some wheelspin and getting his car angled better towards the track, and then repeat what he did during the race, but this time, in a much safer and less braindead manner. but honestly, i can't be surprised anymore by Seb. He's history. he keeps spinning and making braindead moves.

Anyway, as for the race itself.

Leclerc did some outstanding driving, but it must be said, there was some dirtyness today. Imagine if that would have been Max, the world wouldn't have been big enough to live on.

Two incidents come to mind. The first one, where he didn't leave him enough room. That was very unsportmanship behaviour. He would have kept that position either way, didn't need to push Hamilton off.
He got off very good with that black/white flag warning. Fia serving ferrari again, a win on home turf.
So, that does influence his race a bit, which really was not neccesary at all.

Second moment was when Hamilton got close again, and in the corner, Leclerc swerves to the left almost collecting Lewis. He kept moving and i think there's a rule against what he did there. I agree with Hamilton that it was dangerous driving.

Not saying he should have been penalized for that - it's clear Ferrari got warned due to what his engineer told him moments later - but it was tricky moves which can end in some dangerous outcomes including losing the race completely on home turf.

That said, Impressed with Ferrari and LeClerc. Fast enough to keep ahead, and calm enough to keep Hamilton behind. Bottaas was no sweat, that was a bit embarassing really.
But LeClerc not getting forced into an error, except the tiny braking error where he missed the apex, was convincing of his outstanding capabilities especially for such a fresh talent in F1.

It was ironic that Lewis was trying to push Leclerc in a mistake which didn't happen, whilst Hamilton himself got exactly in what he pushed Charles to get into, only to then imho also make the mistake of taking the longer route instead of just going like Charles on that apex, that would have seen him lose much less time, but it didn't matter at that point anymore.

I think the mistake today was Mercedes not giving Hamilton what he asked for 'mo powah baby'.
Had Lewis had a bit more power to his hands for just a couple of laps, i think he would have managed
to pass charles. Then again, let's concider that. Then he loses DRS advantage and charles in a car with vastly
higher top speed gains DRS on the Merc, and see Charles breeze past Lewis just a lap later.

Which would mean all that hard effort went to waste and hamilton's race might now be influenced worse by using more power and as such more fuel and wear. so in the end, Mercedes did the right thing, even though they didn't win.

Bottas though, what a turd. All the chance to shine and then to throw it away. He really could have grabbed that win. Typical number two lapdog driver.

Outside of those: Ricciardo and Hulk great great great drives with the Renault.

Albon FANTASTIC results, very happy with him proving clearly he's the right choice for the RB.
Outstanding and admirable for a driver who is in his FIRST year in F1 and is promoted to a topteam
with a podium capable car halfway into the season. Very impressed, i can't remember any driver really who
even managed that.
Max, hardly been shown during the race but decent drive to get from the back to where he got.
Lost good opportunity at the start though. Too bad, but hey, it's not like this circuit and the last one were
very 'RBR' likeable territories.