2014 Belgian GP (Spa-Francorchamps) - August 24th

Who’s to blame?

It was just your standard racing incident where two stubborn drivers refuse to back down...
It isn't about whether it's Rosberg or Hamilton. They're both at fault, 50-50.☕

stormybadger8 said:So, who's actually to blame here?

Rosberg is basically just an American fraud...

neonfox65 said:Basically, Rosberg is just some German fraud.

Wait, what now? So Vettel isn't a German fraud either?

Rosberg could easily be a Swedish fraud for all I care.

ruggedhawk20 said:So what now? I thought Vettel was just some German scam...

Vettel is just a four-time fraud—nothing more. 😉

neonfox65 said:Vettel being a four-time champ is just a total scam and a joke... 😉

classic troll move

stormybadger8 said:It wasn't even a matter of Rosberg having room on the track. He was so far away from the edge that you could have squeezed a third car in there just to overtake him on the outside without breaking a sweat. 😍
If something is actually a sure thing, then you can be damn certain it won't end up sliding off into the grass. 🤣

This GIF needs another second or two. It would be better if we could actually see that left-hand turn coming up right behind it.

stormybadger8 said:So, who’s actually at fault?

It looks like a classic racing incident where two stubborn drivers just refuse to back down from one another...
It isn't really about whether it's Rosberg or Hamilton; they both share the blame, fifty-fifty.☕

Just because we call it a racing incident doesn't mean the blame is split equally...
Sure, it's a racing incident, but I still think Rosberg carries more of the weight here. Why would you call Hamilton the stubborn one for refusing to yield?
He was holding his line, exactly where any driver would be. He shouldn't have to give an inch. Rosberg is the one who took an unconventional line, and he's the one responsible for the collision when the other guy wouldn't budge.
It would be a different story if they were both off their lines. But that simply wasn't the case here.

That racing incident? Honestly, if any other two drivers were involved, it probably would have flown completely under the radar.
I get where Nico was coming from and what he was trying to pull off. It definitely wasn't about intentionally wrecking Lewis's race; it was more about making a point. He’s trying to demand some respect when they're wheel-to-wheel, because he rarely gets it from Lewis. It always seems like Nico is the softer one in this duo, the one who has to be extra careful to avoid taking both of them out.

stormybadger8 said:Let’s pretend that argument holds water if Formula 1 wasn't a team sport, but it is...
You can't separate a driver from their crew when you're talking about the car itself or pit stop speeds—just look at the massive gap between a backmarker team and Mercedes. You can't detach the individual from the fallout when the team screws up.
It makes zero sense for a driver to take all the credit when everything goes perfectly, given that the crew did most of the heavy lifting. On the flip side, they shouldn't be completely off the hook when the team fails them.😉

But nonsense like what happened with Alonso is 🙂 because other drivers get punished way more severely for much smaller mistakes made by their teams...
Ultimately, what's the point of a driver losing points just because their team botched the car and caused a DNF? Or if a wheel nut isn't tightened properly in the pits? They barely lose anything for those kinds of blunders.

The issue is that Formula 1 isn't strictly a team sport; it's a complicated hybrid. If it were purely about the team, then team decisions would never be controversial—especially when they favor one driver over another—because the team comes first.

But that's not how it works.

Raymond Anderson4 said:Just because it’s labeled a racing incident doesn't mean the blame is split down the middle...
Yeah, it's technically a racing incident, but I still think Rosberg takes more of the heat here. Like, why does Hamilton have to be such a stubborn mule and refuse to back off?
Well, he was just holding his line like everyone else does, there wasn't really any reason for him to give an inch... Rosberg was the one driving off the racing line, so he's the one to blame for hitting someone who wouldn't budge.
It would be a different story if they both went off the racing line, but that's just not what happened here.

If everyone just stuck to the racing line all the time, we'd never see any actual overtaking...

Is this one also a 50-50 split on fault? Button was driving straight and just wouldn't budge—absolute trash behavior. He got what was coming to him...
http://youtu.be/vVqyxgXxlmc

Peter Carter6 said:If everyone drove on a race track, we'd see way more overtakes...

I'm not quite following your logic here...
From what I saw, Lewis Hamilton nailed his turn and held his line perfectly. He didn't brake unnecessarily, and he certainly wasn't hunting down Rosberg. None of that happened.

stormybadger8 said:It’s just your standard racing incident. Two stubborn drivers, neither willing to back down...

One of those two stubborn drivers is well ahead on the racing line, holding his course without any deviation.

The other one? He's trailing far behind, off the racing line, and then suddenly swerves right into contact at the worst possible moment.

Yeah, 50-50.

I still honestly feel like this was 99% just pure bad luck, because to me, it looks obvious that Nico Rosberg was just trying to squeeze out to the outside line so he could cut back to the inside a few corners later... and if you look at this gif, you can see just how "little" he actually missed his mark by, maybe just a couple of inches, and we all know they can only really track where the tires are, not the nose or the wing. It feels like a total racing incident, but the media has turned it into this massive scandal and now everyone is making a huge deal out of it for days. That said, I do think Rosberg needs to show Lewis Hamilton that he can hold his own, because up until now, he’s always kind of stepped aside, just like we saw in Bahrain when he let him pull away even though they were neck and neck.

Christian Harris11 said:Look, I’m still standing my ground here—this was ninety-nine percent pure coincidence. To me, it seems perfectly obvious that Rosberg was just trying to sweep to the outside to find that inside line a couple of turns later... and if you look closely at this GIF, you can see just how "slightly" off his estimation actually was. We're talking a matter of mere centimeters, and we all know that drivers can only really gauge where their tires are; they can't truly feel where the nose or the wing is positioned in that split second. It was a textbook racing incident, yet the media has turned it into some massive scandal, and now everyone is making a mountain out of a molehill for days on end. That being said, if Rosberg wants to show Lewis Hamilton that he can actually hold his own, he absolutely needs to. Up until now, he’s always seemed to be the one backing down—just think back to how many times he let him slip away in Bahrain when they were neck and neck.

And it wasn't just in Bahrain, either; the same thing happened in Canada. Honestly, at some point, the tension had to snap.

Christian Harris11 said:Look, I’m still standing by my claim that this was 99% pure coincidence. It's obvious to me that Rosberg was trying to switch to the outside line just to reclaim the inside position a few turns later... and if you look at this GIF, you can see just how "slight" his miscalculation actually was. We're talking a few centimeters. Everyone forgets they only track where the tires are; they aren't seeing the nose or the wing. It was a standard racing incident, yet the media turned it into some massive scandal that they'll keep shouting about for days. That said, Rosberg does need to show some teeth to Lewis Hamilton. Up until now, he's always been the one backing off—just look back at Bahrain and how many times he let him go when they were neck and neck.

I'm inclined to agree. But then again, why wouldn't they manufacture hype if they can? Everything traces back to Rosberg; if he had just claimed his podium spot immediately, most of this drama would have been avoided. But he didn't. That's also telling... it means things have reached a boiling point.

I am absolutely certain the loser is leaving the team.

steelmaker83 said:That’s how it looks to me too. But why wouldn't they manufacture some hype if there's an opportunity... It all traces back to Nico Rosberg, really. If he had just spoken up about being on the podium right then, we could have avoided so much of this... But he didn't. And that's telling... it means things have reached a boiling point...

I'm pretty certain the loser is the one walking away from the team.

And what if the loser turns out to be Rosberg? He just inked that new multi-year deal with Mercedes, yet nobody on the grid actually views him as a top-tier driver. Is he really going to ditch the squad? I doubt it. As for Lewis Hamilton, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he left...

gentlecobra23 said:And what if the loser turns out to be Nico Rosberg? He just signed a massive multi-year deal with Mercedes, yet nobody on the grid actually views him as an elite driver. Will he ditch the team? I doubt it. As for Lewis Hamilton, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he walked away...

Fair point. I overlooked the fact that he recently extended his contract... Who knows what Rosberg is planning, but he’d be wise to start thinking ahead....

I mean, let’s be honest—no one in their right mind just walks away from a winning team.

The real question here is why on earth they didn't slap a penalty on Sebastian Vettel, while Checo basically gets