São Paulo Grand Prix (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) | November 12-14, 2021

Elizabeth Adams said:Taj Hamza needs to shave his balls dry because he was dragging his feet way too long getting to the starting grid yesterday.
And Max too, since everyone says he’s just messing around behind Hamza's rear wing.
So basically, a collective ball shaving session for both of them.

Why on earth would this be considered a penalty? 😕
You pay massive amounts of money for exactly this kind of thing.

graniteharbor502 said:That little smiley face here: 🙏 (which you get on the forum by typing a colon followed by a lowercase "s"). In a figurative sense, it implies giving someone special praise.

Aha, I see what you mean now.
But if we follow that logic, it would imply that the speed trap is far more critical than it actually is.
The order there is often, shall we say, quite peculiar. Jovanovic, George Russell, Lance Stroll, Yuki Tsunoda... 😕
Take the last US Grand Prix, for example.


https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/p...races/6780254/

"You hardly gain anything, but you can lose a lot” said Sergio Perez regarding the sprint race. 🤣
It’s obvious they didn't tell him just how much ground Lewis Hamilton made up.
Which is bizarre, considering he finished right behind him. 😁

wiredscout14 said:How F1 plays with everyone else 😁

This season is a pure emulation of '06. People have been so bored over the last few years that they're treating this like the peak... And given the current state of the grid, the sport needs a repeat of '12 (that first half, anyway). Only if those who actually need it can figure it out 🙂
...

Hold up. So you're telling me you want someone to script the first half of 2012 for you?

Is that really what you want?!

Then go watch "Driven"—God help you—instead of an actual sport. You know, one that happens naturally without some producer pulling the strings.

If the FIA actually sides with Mercedes regarding Max's little "middle finger" incident with their rear wing,
then they might as well ban Mercedes from racing at Interlagos altogether—both today and tomorrow. I mean, if a wing can be compromised by a mere flick of a finger, imagine what would happen to the aerodynamics when they're hitting 230 mph on the home stretch.

That "middle finger" of Max's is a real problem.

Raymond Anderson4 said:Is that 30-second window actually a rule?
If it is, then sure, he should be penalized if he was stalling on purpose, but who do you actually penalize in other scenarios?
The last guy isn't always the one at fault. You have 18 other drivers between the first and the last; how is the final driver supposed to make it in within 30 seconds if the guys ahead of him are dragging their feet? I think this rule is incredibly hard to enforce fairly. If we apply it strictly, the last driver will constantly end up being blamed and penalized for things they didn't do, simply because the people in front were slow.

This situation with Hamza is clear-cut, though. If it's in the regulations, then yes, he should have been penalized because it's obvious he was stalling.

Honestly, I have no clue if that's actually a rule or not...
Pepe mentioned it while defending Lewis Hamilton, saying everyone has to be on the grid within 30 seconds, but whether that's true or not, I don't know.
But one thing is for certain: Lewis Hamilton absolutely, positively was not on that grid within those 30 seconds.

Max certainly employed a highly "creative" defense strategy during T4🙂
He managed to dodge a penalty by ensuring he didn't just force Lewis off the track, but effectively pushed himself out of the equation as well🙂
The stewards were frantically digging through the rulebooks, which was made even more difficult
due to the fact they didn't have access to the most reliable footage—specifically Max’s T-cam camera😵

wiredscout14 said:How F1 plays with everyone else 😁

This season is a pure emulation of '06. People have been so bored over the last few years that they're treating this like the peak... And given the current state of the grid, the sport needs a repeat of '12 (that first half, anyway). Only if those who actually need it can figure it out 🙂
...

What exactly is wrong with this season?😕 Not enough explosions??

And just how deep does this "contamination" go... 🤣

stormybadger8 said:Honestly, I have no clue if that's actually a rule or not...
Pepe mentioned it while defending Lewis Hamilton, saying everyone has to be on the grid within 30 seconds, but whether that's true or not, I don't know.
But one thing is for certain: Lewis Hamilton absolutely, positively was not on that grid within those 30 seconds.

It was pretty obvious he was stalling. He was playing it smart, banking on the fact that the guys right in front of him would be stuck on cold tires. It was clever, but honestly, it felt a little dirty. 🙂
At the end of the day, if he wanted to engineer the best possible scenario for himself, he had to micromanage everything—including the start.

Jason Campbell70 said:... which is why they waved the black flag at him. 🙂

Isn't Lou doing the same thing—kind of weaving while looking for a slipstream—on the straight? 😬

Man, these stupid rules really get under my skin. I mean, fine, if they're a meter or two apart, sure, but on that first and second turn, there was more than two or three car lengths between them.

Raymond Anderson4 said:Max Verstappen is scheduled to meet with the stewards in about an hour, so it looks like we’ll have to wait a little longer for a final decision on his penalty.

Word is, he actually looked pretty emotional—someone even mentioned seeing tears in his eyes as he walked away.

ruggedmaker99 said:Why on earth would this be considered a penalty? 😕
You pay massive amounts of money for exactly this kind of thing.

Aha, I see what you mean now.
But if we follow that logic, it would imply that the speed trap is far more critical than it actually is.
The order there is often, shall we say, quite peculiar. Jovanovic, George Russell, Lance Stroll, Yuki Tsunoda... 😕
Take the last US Grand Prix, for example.


https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/p...races/6780254/

"You hardly gain anything, but you can lose a lot” said Sergio Perez regarding the sprint race. 🤣
It’s obvious they didn't tell him just how much ground Lewis Hamilton made up.
Which is bizarre, considering he finished right behind him. 😁

The craziest part is that if Alonso, Rick, and Vettel hadn't held Lewis up for so long, he might have actually won the sprint. Okay, maybe not an easy win over Bottas, but he definitely would've had to make a move.
Still, he almost cleared Sainz and Perez anyway; he probably would've passed them in two laps.

Because he’d smoke the Red Bull drivers and Sainz no problem—based on how easily he cruised past Leclerc, Gasly, and Tsunoda, they weren't even a factor.
With Alpine, McLaren, and to some extent Aston Martin, he actually had to work for it...

shadowmarlin22 said:Actually, no—Verstappen straight up broke a clear rule. Try again.

I was merely being sarcastic, 🙄
and isn't it truly fascinating how the fans of the driver who effectively stripped his main championship rival of 25 points with a single aggressive move at Silverstone—thereby inflating his own lead to a massive 37-point margin—are now the very ones pointing fingers at Max's supposedly "dirty" tactics? 🙏

It seems to me that only when Max engages in such maneuvers will there finally be some semblance of equality regarding what we call "dirty" driving.

Drew Bennett68 said:Word is, he actually looked pretty emotional—someone even mentioned seeing tears in his eyes as he walked away.

Tears of joy, most likely.

Raymond Anderson4 said:It was pretty obvious he was stalling. He was playing it smart, banking on the fact that the guys right in front of him would be stuck on cold tires. It was clever, but honestly, it felt a little dirty. 🙂
At the end of the day, if he wanted to engineer the best possible scenario for himself, he had to micromanage everything—including the start.

Makes sense, obviously...
That’s why I’m asking what the actual rule is, because that delay felt unusually long...

From the moment the first guy (Max) pitted until the last one, Lewis Hamilton, stopped, about 50-something seconds passed... hard to say exactly from the footage, but definitely over 50 sec...
Meanwhile, from when Max pulled into the pits as the first one until the actual start, it was slightly less than 60 sec—you can see it on his onboard.
I'd say it was somewhere around 60, give or take.

ruggedmaker99 said:Max certainly employed a highly "creative" defense strategy during T4🙂
He managed to dodge a penalty by ensuring he didn't just force Lewis off the track, but effectively pushed himself out of the equation as well🙂
The stewards were frantically digging through the rulebooks, which was made even more difficult
due to the fact they didn't have access to the most reliable footage—specifically Max’s T-cam camera😵

What exactly is wrong with this season?😕 Not enough explosions??

Racing without the dirty moves, the brainless officiating, the endless whining—and let's be real, the constant excuses from Wolff and Horner about how "one side just has a massive advantage."

Just shut up, drive the damn car, and get on with it.

I mean, they've got a point if you look at it from a certain angle. There’s enough evidence there to be considered beyond a reasonable doubt, if I'm not mistaken.

Does anyone else feel like there's some serious reasonable doubt regarding whether Max actually damaged Ham's wing?🤔🤔

Fuck, for the Hamilton fans, this whole thing is just a total disaster—it feels like they're bending the rules, especially considering the spirit they were originally written in.

It makes me think back to Baku in 2016, when the guy flatspotted his tires on the out-lap during Q2, and then they just handed him a fresh set because driving with a flatspot was deemed too unsafe.🤣🤣🤣🤣

Look, whether you love him or (more often😁) not
, it would be a stretch to say that the "gangsta" Lewis isn't an incredibly fast Formula 1 driver.
You’d have to be a complete moron to even attempt that argument.
Some drivers might be more likable than others, but I don't root for anyone from this current crop of talent;
ever since Jacques Villeneuve retired... it’s been easy. I truly believe I’m impartial.
Even back then, I couldn't bring myself to spout that "Schumacher has no clue" nonsense that one friend of mine kept blaring about.
A man has to show respect where respect is due.
Now, if we’re talking about the personalities of both Schumacher and Lewis...
well, many legends are built that way.
It’s just part of the game—think Vettel, Alonso... or how Senna was in his prime?
He’d act like a total diva the second someone didn't give him the racing line. 🤦😁

graniteharbor502 said:I was merely being sarcastic, 🙄
and isn't it truly fascinating how the fans of the driver who effectively stripped his main championship rival of 25 points with a single aggressive move at Silverstone—thereby inflating his own lead to a massive 37-point margin—are now the very ones pointing fingers at Max's supposedly "dirty" tactics? 🙏

It seems to me that only when Max engages in such maneuvers will there finally be some semblance of equality regarding what we call "dirty" driving.

When Hamilton is involved, everyone starts pulling out the highlight reels and writing endless manifestos...
Now, suddenly, everyone is playing blind.

Look, I don't like Max—far from it—but who cares? Let him play dirty. One championship title is the absolute ceiling for him, assuming he even manages to pull that off...
There will never be any equality here—not in any sense of the word.

Man, Fernando was absolutely flying during those qualifying sessions right before the sprint race. ☕

Raymond Anderson4 said:Is that 30-second window actually a rule?
If it is, then sure, he should be penalized if he was stalling on purpose, but who do you actually penalize in other scenarios?
The last guy isn't always the one at fault. You have 18 other drivers between the first and the last; how is the final driver supposed to make it in within 30 seconds if the guys ahead of him are dragging their feet? I think this rule is incredibly hard to enforce fairly. If we apply it strictly, the last driver will constantly end up being blamed and penalized for things they didn't do, simply because the people in front were slow.

This situation with Hamza is clear-cut, though. If it's in the regulations, then yes, he should have been penalized because it's obvious he was stalling.

There actually isn't a specific rule stating exactly how many seconds must elapse between the first and last cars arriving on the grid. There is only one regulation, though it is subject to very broad interpretation. It states:
During the formation lap practice starts are forbidden and the formation must be kept as tight as possible.

Douglas Roberts49 said:When Hamilton is involved, everyone starts pulling out the highlight reels and writing endless manifestos...
Now, suddenly, everyone is playing blind.

Look, I don't like Max—far from it—but who cares? Let him play dirty. One championship title is the absolute ceiling for him, assuming he even manages to pull that off...
There will never be any equality here—not in any sense of the word.

What on earth are you talking about? 🙄