2021 Emilia Romagna GP (Imola) | April 16-18

Jason Campbell70 said:Kimi Raikkonen got hit with a 30-second penalty. 😢

Wait, why? I totally blanked on what actually happened. I remember seeing some text on the screen saying there’d be an investigation after the race, but the reason completely slipped my mind.

Richard Walker38 said:Why? I can't quite wrap my head around what happened. I remember seeing some text on the screen saying there’d be an investigation after the race, but the actual reason escaped me.

Something about the restart procedure.

bluepuma9 said:Something about the restart procedure.

Tough break for Kimi Raikkonen—finishing 9th in that underdog car was a hell of a drive.
He spun during the warm-up lap and couldn't get back to his spot in time—if he had, he would've had to pit for a restart, though honestly, the race would've been over anyway.
I wasn't even aware of that SC rule regarding Sergio Perez; apparently, you lose the position if he overtakes you while you're off-track. Pretty harsh rule, if you ask me.

So, Fernando Alonso managed to snag a point.

Where on earth has DMW disappeared to?

Lewis Hamilton loses nearly two minutes because he runs wide, then thanks to a red flag, he’s suddenly sitting there with just a five-second deficit instead of being two full minutes down 😵. Seriously, we need to fix this rule immediately

Yesterday, the rule was pretty clear—once that red flag flies, we're looking at a standing start once things get moving again.
So why didn't that happen today? Did they just decide to change the playbook on us again without saying a word?

Jason Campbell70 said:Kimi Raikkonen gets slapped with a 30-second penalty. 😢

I mean, seriously... for what even!?

Larry Rivera83 said:What was even the point of that?!

He managed to claw back two spots after spinning out during that last-lap safety car period. From what I gathered about how the rules work here in the States, he really should have just ducked into the pits and rejoined at the tail end of the pack.
Totally expected, honestly.

Jose Myers87 said:Lewis Hamilton loses nearly two minutes because he went off track, and then thanks to the red flag, he’s only five seconds down instead of being 120 seconds behind😵. They need to change this rule immediately
.

If you ask me, that red flag was absolutely necessary. How else were they supposed to clear all that mess?

To get the cars out of the way and sweep the debris off the track and the run-off areas, everything had to come to a halt. You can't clean up a disaster zone while an SC is out and cars are flying past you at full speed.

Think about it—it would have taken just as much time as the red flag did anyway. You need that window to clean everything up before the SC and the cars pass through that section again, which gives you maybe a two-minute buffer. And looking at how bad the wreck was, the SC would have been circling for ten laps, which essentially eats up ten racing laps.

Raymond Anderson4 said:Honestly, I think that red flag was exactly what we needed. It’s the only way to reset things. But now comes the real headache... how do you even begin to clean up this absolute mess they've made? There's just so much chaos everywhere. Where do you even start?

How are you even supposed to clear the track and get all those debris pieces off the asphalt and the run-off areas when everything has to come to a halt? I mean, how do you actually manage the cleanup if there's an SC out and cars are still circulating the circuit? It doesn't exactly make sense, does it?

Honestly, you might as well just assume it’s a red flag from the jump. Why bother overthinking it? You’ve got a tiny window—maybe two minutes tops—to clear everything out before the Safety Car and the rest of the pack come barreling back through that section. Did you even see how much was going on out there? The Safety Car ended up circling for ten full laps, which basically eats up ten racing laps right then and there. What's the point in stressing if the outcome is already baked in?

If you ask me, the only fair way to handle this would be to just put them all in a single box. Then, you let them go at intervals that exactly match the gaps they had before the interruption. Anything else? It’s just plain unfair.

When the gap is already that massive during a race, the way a Safety Car operates really needs to be different. And don't even get me started on the red flag. It’s one thing when the field is relatively bunched up, but once you're looking at a two-lap lead? It feels absolutely insane to just bunch everyone back together like nothing happened. Why do they even bother?

Jose Myers87 said:In my opinion, the perfect move would be to bring everyone into the pits and then let them restart based on the actual time gaps that existed right before the stoppage. Anything else just feels unfair.

When we're deep into a race and the field is already spread out, the SC needs to function differently—and the same goes for a red flag. It makes sense when the pack is relatively tight, but once some drivers have built up nearly a two-lap cushion, it feels completely absurd to bunch them all back up together.

Look, if you follow that logic, you could argue against every single SC period. You could say it’s unfair that the field bunches up again, effectively erasing the hard-earned advantages built by a group of drivers.
I don't know. I don't see it as unfair, because there really isn't any other way to handle these situations.

Robert Cox46 said:Last year, the rule was a standing start after a red flag.
Why didn't they do that today? Are they changing the rules again?

I assume it's because the track wasn't completely dry. Starting on the racing line would have given certain drivers an unfair advantage.

Honestly, there wasn't even that much debris scattered across the track after the crash—I was watching the replays. It looked like any other wreck, nothing out of the ordinary. Both cars ended up way out in the gravel trap, far from the racing line. In my opinion, they should have just thrown out the safety car; I think calling for a red flag was a bit over the top.

The Stewards 👎

Rain 👍

Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Valtteri Bottas, Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez, Nicholas Latifi, Mick Schumacher, Max Verstappen 👎

Max Verstappen, Kimi Räikkönen, Lando Norris, Daniel Ricciardo (due to his selfless act of letting his teammate through) 👍

wiredseal7 said:Stroll gets a 5s penalty for overtaking Pierre Gasly off-track, which bumps him down to 7th.
Dad’s already miserable about everything regardless...

This penalty just perfectly illustrates how incredibly incompetent the stewards and Massia are.🤦
An absolute joke.😵

Look, the penalty itself is crystal clear—no argument there...
It’s obvious as day that Stroll didn't just overtake Gasly off-track, he literally cut the corner.
We aren't talking about clipping a curb here; Stroll was literally several feet outside the track limits.🤦

The tragicomic part is getting a penalty after the race for something that happened way back in lap 7!
And this happens just hours after Will Buxton and the crew on F1 TV pointed it out loud and clear during the post-race coverage, only for everyone to act shocked at how blind and useless the officials are...
Seriously, where are these stewards? What kind of kids are running this show if they can't spot something that obvious and make a call on such a simple, blatant violation during the actual race?

Then there's the Vettel situation, which is even stupider. The rule is black and white—if the tires aren't on the car in time, you get penalized. No guesswork, no excuses.
So why does it take these guys nearly half a race to make the call? And then they drop it right after he pits, just when he could have served the penalty.
They basically wrecked his pit sequence and turned what should have been a 10-second penalty into a 30-second disaster because of their own delay...
Sure, Vettel's race was already a mess anyway, so it might not seem like a huge deal, but if this happened to Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton, the media would be having a field day and people would already be debating who's getting fired after Massia's inevitable exit...

The guy is a total catastrophe. Race after race, he shows just how profoundly incompetent he is. Same goes for the stewards—a bunch of late calls, weird decisions, and nonsense...
And all Massia knows how to do is ramble like some inept politician, acting like 6, 12, or 24 hours isn't too long to make a dead-simple decision on a penalty.🤦

Sergio Perez really messed up and picked up a penalty for what happened under the Safety Car. He should have checked in with the team over the radio instead of trying to handle things on his own.

Jose Myers87 said:In my opinion, the perfect move would be to just bring everyone into the pits—then release them based on the exact gaps they had before the stoppage. Anything else feels unfair.

When you're at a point in the race where the field is spread out that much, the SC needs to operate differently—and the same goes for a red flag. It’s fine when the pack is relatively tight, but once someone has nearly a two-lap lead, bunching everyone back up is just madness.

People want to watch racing, not a parade.
They might as well install gravel traps next to every turn with wide asphalt runoff areas right behind them, or maybe just introduce "artificial rain" that randomly soaks the track. If it's staged, fine—just give us actual action instead of races like this. ☕

Jason Campbell70 said:Lewis Hamilton is a terrible driver. Just awful.

Yesterday's reality check:

a) He got absolutely bullied at the start by Max Verstappen (who was in P3). Total shutdown.

b) He fell way behind Max early on while the track was still pretty wet.
We're talking at least 1.5 seconds per lap. In those conditions, he would've been trailing Max by full minutes if the race had gone on.

c) That error where he went off track? Pure arrogance. I guess he’s used to being able to overtake whenever and wherever he feels like it because of the car he’s in. This time, he overplayed his hand.

Since Valtteri Bottas seemed to be living in another dimension this weekend, there’s no real benchmark for the car's actual speed. It's entirely possible—and likely—that Lewis was the one pushing that extra bit of pace. So, I'd say Lewis was keeping up with Red Bull, though I wouldn't bet the house on the Mercedes itself.

That said, Mercedes had at least half a second (probably more) advantage in race pace over the rest of the field. Watching him fight his way from P8 or P9 up to P2 over about twenty laps felt less like elite driving and more like watching a kid shoot clay pigeons. It's just easy work.
I'd never go around bragging about it myself—mostly out of basic decency and respect for my own dignity, and maybe a little for Lewis as a driver.

Roger Wright94 said:Yesterday's takeaways:

a) He got bullied right at the start by Max (who was sitting in P3). Just totally bullied!

b) He lost significant ground to Max early on while the track was still pretty wet.
At least 1.5 seconds per lap—in those conditions, he would've been minutes behind Max by the end if it stayed like that.

c) That error where he went off track? Pure arrogance. I guess he’s just too used to being able to overtake whenever and wherever he wants—given the car he's driving. He definitely overstepped his limits this time.

Since Valtteri seemed to be in his own little world all weekend, there isn't much to go on regarding the car's actual speed. It's entirely possible—and honestly likely—that Lewis was the one providing that extra kick. So, I'd say Lewis was neck-and-neck with Red Bull, though I'm not so sure about the Mercedes performance itself.

That said, looking at race pace, Mercedes had at least a half-second advantage (probably more) over the rest of the field. Because of that, seeing him charge from P8 or P9 up to P2 over about twenty laps feels a bit like watching a pro marksman hit clay pigeons—it's almost expected!
Personally, out of pure decency—and respect for myself and Lewis as a driver—I'd never go around publicly bragging or celebrating a feat like that.

a) Just because you repeat yourself three times doesn't make it true—especially when nobody's listening.
b) Lol, he was missing a chunk of his front wing.
c) LOL

Man, some of these haters are unbelievable—acting like it's some miracle he made it to 2nd place, meanwhile Botko was basically out for a Sunday stroll in the same car...