2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix: June 23–25

Timothy Castillo6 said:We could always run another poll—just to get a sense of what the general public thinks about that whole Hamilton versus Vettel incident.
Finally, a real race! Some people are saying it feels just like those legendary days back in the '80s. Definitely hitting the like button on this one.
p.s. If Red Bull manages to snatch the title during a season like this, I’ll eat my hat—it’ll feel like they didn't truly earn it.
CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT RACE!!!

Let's go, Austin! 🎉🎉

If anyone’s got that team radio from Ham yesterday so we can all have a good laugh together... please...

jadeseal7 said:If you look at the onboard footage, there’s clear telemetry on the left side. Lewis Hamilton enters the corner at 66 KP, then slows down to 51 KP on the exit.

EDIT: He was also more than ten car lengths behind the SC.

Didn't that happen toward the end of the lap? Martin Brundle mentioned that Ham stepped on it to catch the SC by the very next turn. 😁
I still don't get why everyone is making such a fuss. Did Ham cut him off?
Yeah, he did, but honestly, that's just what everyone does in these situations. : D
Plus, he closed the gap by about 15 mph, which isn't exactly a full stop.
To me, it looks more like Sebastian Vettel accelerated rather than Hamilton cutting him off.
Essentially, both drivers share some blame here. They were both trying to squeeze every bit of advantage out of that SC restart, and when two people try to take up the same space, things go sideways. 😁

jadeseal7 said:The onboard footage shows clear graphics on the left side. Hamilton enters the corner at 66 KP, then slows down to 51 KP on the exit.

EDIT: And he’s still more than 10 car lengths behind the SC.

Ten car lengths? 🤣 It looks like at least 20-30 lengths there, but who cares...
Plus, you can't tell exactly from the footage when the lights went out under the SC, so it's hard to say if he should've been penalized for that too...

Honestly, watching the replay, it was a matter of millimeters before Kimi slams into Esteban Ocon and Felipe Massa hits Kimi... and you could probably see Sergio Perez smashing into Sebastian Vettel if Vettel hadn't moved over next to Hamilton.😁
If Vettel had just hammered the brakes, we would've had a massive wreck on our hands.

It's a pretty debatable situation, but damn, Vettel was naive enough to get pulled into playing games with Hamilton, only to end up snapping into him because of it...
If that hadn't happened, Hamilton definitely would've taken a penalty. This looks like obvious compensation...

Because let's be real, Hamilton did damage to another car with how he was driving (Vettel's wing).
On the flip side, if Vettel's move was intentional, he'd get punished immediately, but even then, nobody actually gets hurt from that contact...

So clearly they went for some half-baked solution where Vettel gets penalized, but Hamilton gets hit too by finishing behind him...

So, you guys actually read the ruling on Valtteri Bottas 😁

The Stewards examined video evidence and considered that car 7 was making a
speculative pass on the outside of car 77 in turn 2 and that car 77 hit the kerb and was
pushed wide into car 7.
The Stewards determined that no driver was wholly or predominately to blame for the
collision.

What a bunch of geniuses...
I guess the logic is just that Bottas didn't have enough room...

Hmm, long before they even hit the corner, Kimi was already miles ahead of Bottas and there was plenty of space for him if he wanted it...

Besides, Bottas had zero reason to be hugging the curb; he had more than enough room...


Honestly, I can't wrap my head around how any of this could be Kimi's fault 🤷
The only explanation is that suddenly, it's the curbs' fault 🤣

So according to the officials, it's apparently the curb's fault for "shoving" Bottas into Kimi...
The only thing that surprises me is they didn't hand out a lifetime ban to the damn curb 🤣

Raymond Anderson4 said:Didn't that happen toward the end of the lap? Martin Brundle mentioned—quite reasonably, I thought—that Lewis Hamilton was really pushing it to catch up to the SC before they hit the next turn. 😁
I'm still struggling to see why everyone is making such a huge deal out of this—did Hamilton actually cut him off?
Yeah, he did, but honestly, come on—everyone does that all the time! : D
Plus, he cut him off by about 15 mph—it wasn't like he brought the car to a dead stop.
It looks more to me like Sebastian Vettel just stepped on the gas rather than Hamilton cutting him off.
Essentially, both of them share some of the blame here. They were both trying to squeeze every last bit of advantage out of that SC restart, and when you have two drivers fighting for a gap that only fits one, things inevitably get messy. 😁

At this point, it doesn't even matter; they both acted like rookies. Most of the great champions have had their fair share of "rookie" moments in high-pressure situations.

What actually matters is that Vettel finished ahead of Hamilton and managed to pull away a little, instead of letting Hamilton close the gap further. So, there we have it. Now, we just wait for the next showdown.

One must establish a clear distinction: is this a calculated maneuver, or merely an emotional outburst?

jadeseal7 said:EDIT: There are also more than ten car lengths lined up behind the SC.

That rule doesn't apply once the SC lights go out, or when they're prepping to head into the pits.

jadeseal7 said:So you're saying RB can't give him a decent car? How is he supposed to compete with Daniel Ricciardo then?..

Is Ricciardo actually fighting for a title here? 🤦

granitestag15 said:That rule doesn't apply anymore once the lights on the SC go out—basically when they're prepping to head into the pits.

Fair enough, but from what I saw on the replay, it looks like the SC didn't kill the lights until he hit the next turn... though I could be wrong.
He was pretty much right at that corner the moment Vettel slammed into the back of Hamilton.
I say "looks like" because you can barely tell if the SC lights are actually on or off; you can only really see it from Vettel's onboard camera.
What's crystal clear, though, are those trackside panels still flashing yellow and showing "SC."

Do those lights shut off at the same time as the ones on the SC, or only after the SC crosses that SC line?🤷

stormybadger8 said:We can all agree Vettel totally lost his cool there—he absolutely deserved the penalty for acting like that...
There’s zero debate here, honestly, I don't even see why people are arguing about it 🤷

But yesterday you were saying he didn't hit him on purpose—I'm done arguing with you. You're just messing with us.

Roger Wright94 said:And that safety car is just crawling around the track.
Why isn't he pushing it?
Drivers have to stay at a specific distance—it's the rule. If he actually drove faster (which he usually does), we wouldn't see people pulling stunts like Lewis...

Honestly, they should just use the same rules they have in NASCAR or IndyCar.

coastalwolf6 said:And what about that mess in Dubai—where they were driving slow on purpose just to edge out Nico Rosberg?

I mean, anyone with half a brain would've done the exact same thing.

Oh, please.

You seem to be getting more pathetic by the day.

Niki Lauda: Hamilton is gonna throw a punch at Vettel one of these days... actually, more like a haymaker

😁

coastalwolf6 said:Oh, please...

You just get more pathetic by the day.

Why the insults?

Look, Lewis Hamilton was fighting for the championship—it’s totally normal to try every trick in the book to pull off a win. Right, Mario? And honestly, he didn't even break any rules...

neonfox65 said:But you were literally saying yesterday he didn't hit him on purpose. I'm not even gonna argue with you. You're just trolling at this point.

Look, I’m still not convinced it was intentional. Earlier, you were claiming he just lost control of the wheel while waving his arms around and that his hand didn't move toward Hamilton at all.
And honestly, I don't see a single shred of actual evidence that it was deliberate, aside from a bunch of people talking nonsense. If it was as obvious as daylight, why hasn't NASCAR released a clip clearly showing Sebastian Vettel's hand swerving toward Hamilton's car?
Why hasn't the high-tech crew over at Sky shown us anything yet?

At the end of the day, whether it was on purpose or not doesn't change much—Sebastian Vettel pulled up alongside Hamilton and started flailing his arms... which led to the contact where Vettel's car slammed into Hamilton's.
So, intentional or not, the penalty stands because there's no denying Vettel's car went parallel to Hamilton's and then hit him.

What I really want to know is why there's no footage clearly showing Sebastian Vettel's hand on the wheel...
And why isn't the Sky crew showing the NASCAR ruling regarding Hamilton, or why hasn't NASCAR even made it public?

stormybadger8 said:I'm still just not buying that the hit was intentional...

🤦

I'm done reading this...

neonfox65 said:Niki Lauda once remarked that Lewis Hamilton would eventually strike back at Sebastian Vettel—though he meant more like a metaphorical punch to the gut than anything physical! It’s such a classic, blunt way of putting it, isn't it? He was basically hinting at that intense, simmering rivalry where the tension just builds up until someone finally makes a move on the track. It's one of those gritty, old-school perspectives that really captures the spirit of the sport.

😁

Once Sebastian Vettel starts pulling away, he’ll probably just give Toto a call to ask if he can tell Valtteri Bottas to slow down—just so he actually has a chance at catching him!

neonfox65 said:Is Daniel Ricciardo actually fighting for the championship? 🤦

Since when does having a decent car automatically mean you're in the title hunt?