2021 Bahrain Grand Prix - Sakhir, March 26 - 28

[214270]

Is the penalty capped at 5s if VER stayed in front after the illegal overtake?

nope, there is no such cap; it can be anything from reprimand to disqualification

So if VER managed to get a gap of 5.5s for example, the stewards could add a 6s penalty?

[Just_a_fan]

With regard to the off track at Turn 4, it has always been a rule that you can't overtake off the track. Max had this against Kimi a couple of years ago, remember. It's irrelevant that they might take that line in open driving, going off track to make a pass is a no-no. Always has been.

[siskue2005]

Opening stint proves me right. They are very close.

Nope, Max was saying he was managing his pace in first stint

But why did RBR let Lewis undercut them?
Thats when the race changed; they should have pitted first and protected their track position and none of this would have happened

And Lewis was going all out? They were all managing their tyres. When they had same compound of tyre, same fuel loads they were equal.

Give us a break with your Hamilton is driving a dog and Max a rocket narrative.

So, that proves what? Where did i say Lewis drives a dog?

RBR surely has a faster car which was 0.4 sec faster in qualy and easily managing pace in front and then easily being 0.8 to 1 sec faster than Merc; There is no question that RBR has the best car for now.

With same tyre same fuel they both were equal?? how did u quantify that? if thats the case Lewis would have easily won the race.
Lewis did a stellar job, with second faster car; credit when its due
RBR did a shitty stratergy; Max did a stellar job too

[sosic2121]

Hamilton driver of the day, no question. Verstappen will get them in Imola. Perez looked good.

Goodness, the state of F1 is one that people claim that, a driver that spent half the race off the track, to be the best of the GP

Bitter much?

Also it's nice to see him cracking under pressure

[Just_a_fan]

Winners of the GP
Hamilton
Honda
McLaren

Losers
Alpine
Vettel
Mazepin

You missed one off the winners list - fans of racing. That was proper edge of the seat racing and fans of racing should be happy with it.

[Restomaniac]

Hamilton was consistently wide at T4. That is just as much gaining an advantage. The stewards dont seem to get that still - gaining an advantage is not something that only happens during overtakes.

Of course max started doing it when it was obvious stewards were not acting, but that situation should not have occurred in the first place.

So you admit your comment of ‘Max does it once’ was wrong then?

Both were abusing T4 yet only 1 of them passed off the track. That was Verstappen.

Are you familiar with the concept of a hyperbole? Of course max did it more than literally once. Point is, lewis did it earlier and more consistently. They should never have dragged it past that points.

And regarding the passing of track, well, thats my point, isnt it? An advantage is an advantage. Whether you gain 0.1 a lap ten laps straight by going wide, or only go wide once to overtake, both provide an advantage. Yet, only one is penalized. And thats a major problem.

Well it would seem that it’s not.
Toto Wolff said that the FIA had ‘suddenly’ started enforcing T4 when they wasn’t going to be enforced during the race and Christian Horner who was sat next to him didn’t deny it. So that’s on RedBull and Verstappen.

Paul DeResta who it’s clear cannot stand Lewis Hamilton said he had a conversation with the race director pre-race and was told that passing off the track was a no-no. He certainly wouldn’t make that up he would be screaming blue murder if he got a sniff of favouritism to Hamilton.

[siskue2005]

Is the penalty capped at 5s if VER stayed in front after the illegal overtake?

nope, there is no such cap; it can be anything from reprimand to disqualification

So if VER managed to get a gap of 5.5s for example, the stewards could add a 6s penalty?

Who knows what goes on the stewards room
THey could give him two 3 sec penalty for cutting track and then deliberalty not giving it back.

In 2012 Silverstone Alonso got a drive through for not giving the place back... so it could be anything

[grubschumi13]

The cars aren’t very, very close mate. The Red Bull is clearly faster. Nice try (again) though.

Opening stint proves me right. They are very close.

Nope, Max was saying he was managing his pace in first stint

But why did RBR let Lewis undercut them?
Thats when the race changed; they should have pitted first and protected their track position and none of this would have happened

Well track position is an old school rule, while fresher tyres are a more modern phenomena. Both are valid strategies and can be the difference. Hamilton did a better job on his track position strategy, While Max underestimated track position and overestimated his own fresh tyre approach.

But it was phenomenal viewing and kept us on our seats.

[101FlyingDutchman]

Brundle trying his hardest to make it sound like it's going to be tight. Max will whizz past once he has DRS.

You were saying...

[bauc]

Great first race of the season, I hope we have a tight battle for the championship till the last lap of the last race...

[bosyber]

Huh, just heared Buxton and Fittipaldi (on post race F1 youtube) argue that Verstappen 'was already past HAM' when he went over the line (and they just had the other guy, what's his name who does the 'tech/analysis' bit explain why taking a wider line as Max did meant he'd end up outside of those kerbs (or have to subsequently go off throttle, and let HAM go out of the corner). But, after all of it, they had a few minutes earlier explain Norris why he let Leclerc past again, then took him next lap (if you had an - arguable - advantage at that turn, be the smart one to give the place back while you are strong).

What do you think? I dunno, but the reasoning seemed a bit off; didn't we have that already, it didn't really look like HAM was 'crowding' VER to me, but I am not a racer.

Anyway great race to watch, hope there's a lot more of this calibre this season!

[214270]

nope, there is no such cap; it can be anything from reprimand to disqualification

So if VER managed to get a gap of 5.5s for example, the stewards could add a 6s penalty?

Who knows what goes on the stewards room
THey could give him two 3 sec penalty for cutting track and then deliberalty not giving it back.

In 2012 Silverstone Alonso got a drive through for not giving the place back... so it could be anything

[zeph]

Hamilton has turned into a wiley old fox, experience and wisdom won today. Perez from pit to P5, not bad at all. Shame about Alonso’s brake failure, I thought he was doing great initially.

[cirrusflyer]

With regard to the off track at Turn 4, it has always been a rule that you can't overtake off the track. Max had this against Kimi a couple of years ago, remember. It's irrelevant that they might take that line in open driving, going off track to make a pass is a no-no. Always has been.

Exactly.
Lap 8, Norris on Leclerc, T4 outside overtake...he immediately returned position.

[dans79]

It will be interesting to see how Max's confidence holds up during the season.

I think he's always felt if he had an equal car he could take a championship. However with a car that's currently Superior he wasn't able to take a race that he should have easily been able to.

Having not been in a fight before, I think that will wear on him.