Austria 2016

[Stan Reid]

The race wasn't ota so I spent my time reading up on the world's feral pig problem.

[steveaki13]

Has that team scored a point under any name? When? Glad to see it anyway.

Bianchi scored two in Monaco in 2014

[truefan72]

toto is losing his ever loving mind
team orders are not the solution.

Cars collide for a reason and team orders won't stop that
in barcelona, rosberg effectively turned into hamilton sending him off track
in Austira he crashes into him in both incidents causing a collision

And what toto is talking about is nonsensical.
They just won the race and one of their drivers has some sort of issue in causing collisions with his teammate
if anythnig and internal reprimand is warranted.

But to be honest i would like to see them both left alone to drive as they see fit and if a collision in the heat of battle occurs so be it.
Mercedes are so far ahead in the WCC that it is effectively a done deal, but the way toto talks about it it is as if the 1-2 finish is the most important thing
so the focus should b on providing both cars with a fair and decent set up and independent race strategy and allow these boys to fight

I have no desire to see manufactured 1-2's when it is not needed at this point. Let them fight it out and if both crash then so be it.
At least we will have an honest championship and by default they already win the Constructors championship/

[Mintexmemory]

.......add to that, ensure the pit crew are selected and paid by the driver. You can't convince me that the first Hamilton stop was just a crew error. They deliberately went for a slower change!

[truefan72]

for all of what folks say
kimi and vettel are tied in points

I also don't understand Vettel blaming Pirelli
I think Nasr did 45 laps on those tires. Vestappen did 60 on his

Ferrari need to check their pressures and setup and perhaps vettel took too much out of the tire, and maybe a few flat spots.
But of course it can't be his fault.
to vettel's credit he usually comes out later once cooled down and accept blame

[Stan Reid]

I guess that officially makes Sauber the worst team in F1.

[Starter]

That's what being a drunk sometimes brings about, sadly.



Einstein couldn't think of reasons to argue for such a case, let alone a dimwit like DJ

Be glad I'm no longer a Moderator here.

[Tazio]

Where is everyone??

I missed the live race, and I'm getting ready to watch the replay!

[Bagwan]

“Nevertheless I was confident I could defend and bring it home, and I had the inside position, strong position, and I went a bit deep into the corner, but that’s fine, you know, I dictate, I’m on the inside.

“Then I was just very surprised that Lewis turned in, that caused a collision.”

So , that's what Nico said about the incident .



This is significant because of his reasoning .
He stated that he dictates his position on track because he was inside .

We have heard Lewis state this position multiple times in the past and I suspect that this is , or was , an accepted position for either driver , at least within the team , itself .
Given that this was only recently demonstrated to have been the position of the stewards when Nico was forced out when outside of a first corner , dropping him down to ninth from 2nd on the grid , which wasn't investigated by the stewards to my knowledge , I guess we should assume this is the case .

I don't agree with forcing another driver off track .

His brakes were sketchy , maybe worse than he knew , but in the heat of the moment , it's hard to blame him too much from there , with Lewis coming in hot to the left , any driver would be tempted to stay of the whoa pedal .
But the other side of that is that he knew they were rough , so maybe should have accepted his car was crippled , and taken a respectable second . There's an easy argument there , but , for sure , he would have been pilloried if he didn't put up a fight .


So , not that I agree with the tactic , but if holding a guy outside is acceptable , then the lack of turn in for Rosberg that has been pointed at as the main point of guilt , is an acceptable tactic .
Understeer was the reasoning given in the first corner that I mentioned earlier , that had Nico off , apparently acceptably .

This time , no brakes certainly inducing rather severe understeer were rather obvious , then restated multiple times by his team .
They also stated that they were not able to tell him just how bad they were , so , a bit shocking for the driver , given it was stated that the brake-by-wire went out only on the straight before .


Looking also at how late Nico waits to turn , we see it only after Lewis does so .
In effect , Nico is right that Lewis turned into him .

Lewis said he had Nico in his blind spot , so couldn't see him when he turned in .
I guess that's ok , but he had to have known he was there , and he must have been expecting to have Nico leave space for him on the outside .
So , that's fair , but inconsistent with his feelings in many cases in earlier races .




To get to the heart of it , no , I don't like what Nico did .
It doesn't seem consistent with the rules about leaving room .
It will be interesting what the stewards say about it .


On another topic , Nico was criticized for not letting Lewis back on track .
But the rules state the driver re-entering must do so safely , so in reality , almost a foul on Lewis .

On another , Nico's driving with a broken front end , he stayed out of the way of drivers who were clearly faster , and would not have been able to see most of the damage , only feel it from within the cockpit . Given he made it around without affecting the results too much with strewn CF , especially with the yellows , should let him off , but , who knows ? Maybe they need to give him a reprimand to even it up a little .
It wouldn't surprise me .


I hope I didn't disappoint anyone here with my assessments .

[tfp]

What a race!!!
I'm glad Hamilton got the win after Mercedes messed up the timing of the pit stops (surely that was a mistake?)