2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix: June 23–25

jadeseal7 said:By the way: Kimi is actually shouting at them to give his steering wheel back 🤣🤣

https://streamable.com/80zn3

Oh, Kimi, heavens above... 🙏

What an incredible driver he is, truly 🙏

I suppose our colleague H-K ought to smooth this one over

I honestly feel like we’ve overlooked just how much of a feat it was for McLaren-Honda and Fernando Alonso to scrape those points together.

Huge props to Fernando!

View on imgur

jadeseal7 said:By the way: Kimi is losing his mind demanding they give him back the steering wheel🤣 🤣

https://streamable.com/80zn3

Man, Kimi, give me a break 🙏

It’s honestly pointless why they even bothered coming back after getting penalized, only to pull out almost immediately anyway.

I'm sitting here listening to Lewis Hamilton talk about how... kids are watching Formula 1... and all that nonsense... as if he hasn't done plenty of things himself that would make a kid blush. If he's so worried about the youth, maybe he should just stop wearing those damn suspenders while they're watching!!!

rustyridge10 said:It appears that Sebastian Vettel did not intentionally collide with Lewis Hamilton... 🙏 I suspect a sudden gust of wind might just blow that car right into Lewis Hamilton's path...
I don't think I properly gave credit to Sauber and Wehrlein earlier, but honestly, it was great to see them sitting in the points, even if it only happened because the race turned into such a complete mess... 👍
What really stuck with me out of everything was that comment from Fernando Alonso... he basically said it was such a shame, because we really could have walked away with this win if Hamilton and Vettel hadn't completely shut him down...

Well, you can certainly see that the wind is picking up, so what else could it be... 🙂

I am unable to process the video content provided via that link to generate a written response. If you can provide a transcript or a description of the video's contents, I would be more than happy to rewrite it according to your specific instructions.

/sarcazm off

mellowtiger83 said:You really think Vettel didn't see Hamilton slowing down coming? Yeah, no kidding.

When can we expect it?
Why act surprised? He’s been pulling this same nonsense for years.
Forget these explanations. Just stop. 🤦

Honestly, Pastor Maldonado shouldn't have just stayed in Formula 1—he should've been a multi-time world champion by now. Everyone should’ve known better. The second you see him in your rearview mirror, you ought to just pull over and get out of his way voluntarily. 😁

mellowtiger83 said:Did the telemetry confirm there was no brake test? Yeah, sure it did!

Yeah, that’s the official word from the FIA.
That footage is showing us two different things at once. 😵
Sure, nobody was out there brake-checking like a maniac, but man, the braking and deceleration? Absolutely brutal.
And now, I have absolutely no clue who’s doing what to whom...

mellowtiger83 said:Does Sebastian Vettel need to chill out? Yeah, he absolutely does.

Don't you dare try telling me Vettel couldn't see this coming! The guy just has to go through with it. He has to! Where is he going?! Just go, man! Just go!

I get why he's salty, especially seeing Perez left in the dust while Lewis is just wandering around aimlessly, but man, buddy, just calm down.

We can all agree that Vettel's reaction was incredibly stupid, and he absolutely earned that penalty.
There's zero dilemma here. I don't see why anyone is even debating this. 🤷

goldenranger6 said:It was pointless for them to even bother coming back once they got penalized and gave up almost immediately.

I’m listening to Lewis Hamilton talk about how kids watch Formula 1... and all that nonsense... honestly, he should probably forget everything he’s done if he cares that much. If he’s so worried about what kids see, maybe he should just stop wearing those ridiculous piercings then!!!

That statement is absolute gold.🤣
Kids are watching, so we gotta be cool, right? So maybe Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel should just run into each other in the pit lane and throw some punches to set a "good example" for the kids.🙏 🤣

Not that it's his fault, but those trashy British journalists totally provoked Lujin's reaction by lying through their teeth...

jadeseal7 said:By the way: Kimi is losing his mind demanding they give him his steering wheel back 🤣🤣

https://streamable.com/80zn3

Good grief, Kimi. 🙏

I honestly didn't even grasp what happened there. How on earth did they forget to return his steering wheel? 🤣🙏

And now the safety car is just crawling around the track.
Why isn't he picking up the pace?
Drivers have to maintain a specific gap behind him. If he actually drove faster—like he usually does—we wouldn't see half these stunts being pulled by guys like Lewis Hamilton.

Regarding the penalty on Sebastian Vettel, I’d say it was fair and actually made sense. It wasn't some trivial call.
Don't forget he picked up 3 penalty points, putting him at 9. If he hits 12, he’s looking at a race ban (supposedly).

Since it's highly likely Vettel's contact didn't actually cause Lewis Hamilton's headrest issues—it looked way too weak for that—that means Vettel isn't the reason Lewis Hamilton had to pit and lose all that time.

So, Lewis Hamilton essentially walks away from that incident unscathed, meaning no damage that would slow him down or cost him time. Meanwhile, the penalty stripped Sebastian Vettel of about 25-30 seconds.
If the penalty had been lighter, like a stop&go, Sebastian Vettel probably would have won the race.

Given everything we've just discussed, you could argue that Vettel basically handed himself the win on a silver platter.
Maybe. Personally, I think Vettel actually came out of that scrap looking like the winner—he kept his head and walked away ahead.

A) Vettel isn't just racing the clock; he’s racing Lewis Hamilton. In this game, the relative gap matters way more than the absolute time. He finished ahead of Lewis, and honestly, that's what counts. Especially considering how much of a cakewalk this race looked to be for Lewis after those brutal qualifying sessions.

B) Lewis probably realized pretty quickly that there wouldn't be any leeway for his nonsense this time around. He picked the wrong target to mess with. Next time, he might want to think twice before trying to play those kinds of games.

I wouldn't expect anything else from him. That’s just his character; he’ll keep pulling this nonsense.

Hey Valtteri Bottas, slow him down! 🤣

And don't even get me started on that mess in Dubai, where he intentionally drove slow just to leapfrog Nico Rosberg.

Then we act surprised when he hits the brakes? Look at him—he’s already exiting the corner and still pinning the brake.

The man simply loves being slow.

Honestly, he belongs in some local tractor pull; he could cruise at 31 miles/h there, whatever speed his heart desires.

I can only hope justice prevails and someone else finally takes the championship.

I honestly don't see why people are even debating this when we have telemetry data on every single car right at our fingertips:
https://maxf1.net/fia-hamilton-is-under-investigation-for-the-start/
It’s pretty obvious that Sebastian Vettel should’ve been disqualified after that blatant, intentional hit, and frankly, it’s a sad state of affairs because if anyone else had done that without being in the middle of a championship fight, they would’ve been kicked out immediately—it just shows how much double standards exist in the sport.
I really feel for Mass; if his shock hadn't snapped, he might have actually pulled off a win today.

Lewis is acting like a child. It’s like he’s trying to sit in two different chairs at once.
To me, he just doesn't look fully committed to the job he's doing.
And calling on Valtteri for help? That definitely isn't helping his "elite talent" persona.

Everyone is going to be talking about the incident—which makes sense.
Honestly, this probably wouldn't be such a massive circus if Lewis had actually won or even just finished ahead of Sebastian Vettel.

Jonathan Wood5 said:Sebastian Vettel got disqualified because of that intentional hit later on. If anyone else had done that without being in the middle of a title fight, they would have been tossed out too. It’s pretty pathetic, honestly—it just shows the double standards at play.

And how exactly are you supposed to prove intent?

Jonathan Wood5 said:I don't get why people are even arguing when every single car has telemetry right there on the screen.
The FIA is actually going after Lewis Hamilton over his start? Seriously? They’re looking into whether he violated the rules during the launch, and honestly, it feels like they're just hunting for any excuse to make life difficult. It's getting ridiculous. One minute everything is fine, the next they're digging through footage to see if someone breathed wrong at the lights. Just let them race.

What does that telemetry actually say? Besides confirming the FIA has absolutely lost its mind. 🤦
So the excuse for Lewis Hamilton is that he did the exact same bullshit three times in a row, so clearly it's totally fine now...
Another excuse is that he didn't even stay on the track. 😵 Look, don't give me that. It’s obvious as hell that he braked. He definitely hit the brakes.
So, because he didn't come to a full stop right in the middle of the road, it’s all "okidoki," right? Apparently, if you're still crawling along at a snail's pace, you aren't actually stopped. Real logic there. 🙂

Besides, the most suspicious part is that they’re clearly too embarrassed to post that decision regarding Lewis Hamilton and that whole telemetry mess on the official site. Or maybe the data just doesn't even exist. Who knows.
Look, I don't know what to tell you. It's like they aren't even there. Just gone. 🙂
The FIA just dropped the official info for the upcoming GP Las Vegas. It’s all there on their site if you actually care about the technical details. Just another weekend of high stakes and even higher speed. Check it out.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but no matter how hard I look, the damn thing just doesn't exist. 🤷

As far as I can tell, that telemetry data is basically being gatekept by the British media. 😁
Meanwhile, there wasn't even a whisper about an investigation into Lewis Hamilton. And wouldn't you know it? Still zero word on a decision. Nothing.
So we're all just supposed to blindly trust these supposedly "unbiased" media outlets? Great idea. 😁

mellowtiger83 said:Good grief, I didn't even catch that—did they seriously forget to give him his steering wheel back? 🤣🙏

One of the mechanics is literally carrying it in his hands while he’s looking around for the steering wheel, but apparently, all they managed to hand him were some gloves! 🤣

Hey, check out this link for all the deep dives and investigations.
It’s honestly pretty grim. 🤦
edit: Looks like some of the numbering got skipped.

So, some numbers were skipped, but why exactly is nobody saying?
I mean, the media is absolutely buzzing about telemetry data, yet the FIA can't seem to find a reason to actually make that decision public if it even exists...

At the very least, it’s incredibly sketchy that we don't have any of this☕

stormybadger8 said:Sure, some numbers seem to have gone missing—though why that is, remains a mystery...
It feels like the media is buzzing nonstop about telemetry data, yet the governing body just can't seem to find a reason to actually make that decision public if it even exists in the first place...

At the very least, it’s incredibly strange that we don't have access to the same info ☕

If you look at the onboard footage, there's a clear graphic on the left side. Lewis Hamilton enters the turn at 66 KP, then slows down to 51 KP on the exit.

EDIT: And he's still sitting more than ten car lengths back behind the SC.

We should probably drop another poll in here. I want to see what the general consensus is among the fans regarding that whole "incident" between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.
And finally, we're actually getting a real RACE, one that reminds me of those legendary days back in the 80s. I'm loving this.
p.s. If Ford takes the title during a season like this, then I’ll eat my hat because they definitely didn't earn it.
CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT RACE!!!