Why Bother

[freaky2 1]

You can say 'the article was wank', I'm not one to be so offensive though. And yeah I'm back, but Varda's gone.

She's waiting for you over there, on msn

I told her you were around here and she came to take a look, but you could bet she wouldn't post more than once XD

[Max Mosley 2]

Yeah. She doesn't give it away for free! Besides I don't think I have msn here - I'm at uni for the first time in my life. Web-based alternatives are pretty useless here too, maybe by design.

[freaky2 1]

Yeah. She doesn't give it away for free! Besides I don't think I have msn here - I'm at uni for the first time in my life. Web-based alternatives are pretty useless here too, maybe by design.

Lol, I heard that at uni I might be cut short of some of my daily pleasures, like downloading a lot of (probably copyrighted) manga to read, and also that Msn videocalls weren't allowed or something. I say that's nasty, because for one time in my life I might need them so my mum can see I'm allright XD

Wonderful 21st century communication XD

[Max Mosley 2]

Hopefully that won't be a problem if you have your own private computer connected to their network. I can get more porn here than at home (superfast connection, for all that research I do). I'm using the uni's computers though today, so no installing msn.

[YHR 0]

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/09/...of_ferrari.html

When rain started to sweep the circuit with three laps left, Hamilton took immediate advantage. Lying second behind Kimi Raikkonen, he mounted a challenge as the two cars slithered towards the final chicane. Raikkonen braked early and Hamilton drew level. But since the Finn was not ready to concede, the Englishman took the only safe option and cut the corner. Since that gave him an advantage, he knew he would have to back off and drop behind Raikkonen or face punishment. That was exactly what he did.

Except that is not exaclty what he did. He gunned it across the run off area to keep in contact with Kimi and then passed him unleashing the animal in Kimi. It was an ill advised place to attempt a pass, and without that run off area he never would have been in a position to pass KR down that short straight.

A failed pass attempt like that would normally put you a couple of seconds behind.

It was a bad move, and contrary to what some of you saw out of Hamilton and Kimi , I saw nothing that resembled good car control at all. It was poor wet weather racing, too bold, too aggressive. You could tell one of them was going to wreck.

I understand how some of you feel, but really this was not a bad steward decision. Like all these decisions though, you wonder how they come up with a 10 second or a 25 second penalty. That is the grey area to me. What Hamilton did deserved a penalty. The rest of it, I have no idea how they come up with what kind of penalty.

This move also had an outcome on the race and therefor is much different then the Massa pit lane violation,

That move by Hamilton basically signalled, Game on, and the driving went downhill from there.

[cavallino 2]

Thanks for posting that. I think he goes a little too far: it wasn't the strictest possible interpretation, but I do tend to agree that Ferrari are very lucky to say the least with some rulings. The rule itself is far too vague, and the way the penalty was awarded 4 hours after the spectacular race finish that F1 has been crying out for was a disaster.

I don't watch F1 much so corect me if I am wrong, wasn't Hamilton the new cheating Schumacher like character last year, and wasn't he lifted with a crane onto the track.

The FIA are guilty of stupidity, not malice. This chicane jumping business has been going on for ages - I remember an incident between Montoya and Webber (?) like 6 years ago. And they never clarified the rule.

Put a bloody spike strip on chicane run offs so drivers who go off have to pay for it.

Hamilton the victim of Ferrari? Sour grapes, blind fanaticism, derisive comments about Rusia. Middle and Far East, endless whinning. Yup, that article has it all.

[Max Mosley 2]

Yeah Hamilton has been lucky in the past too. Personally I don't mind cheating so long as my guys do it better than your guys! And I actually wondered whether we could do something like your spike strip: perhaps it's possible to have more retarding run off areas in places, or the engines could be equiped to have a 'penalty mode' where, upon going over a strip of sensors on the track, your car automatically loses power for a short time.

[pabloh20 1]

Except that is not exaclty what he did. He gunned it across the run off area to keep in contact with Kimi and then passed him unleashing the animal in Kimi. It was an ill advised place to attempt a pass, and without that run off area he never would have been in a position to pass KR down that short straight.

A failed pass attempt like that would normally put you a couple of seconds behind.

It was a bad move, and contrary to what some of you saw out of Hamilton and Kimi , I saw nothing that resembled good car control at all. It was poor wet weather racing, too bold, too aggressive. You could tell one of them was going to wreck.

I understand how some of you feel, but really this was not a bad steward decision. Like all these decisions though, you wonder how they come up with a 10 second or a 25 second penalty. That is the grey area to me. What Hamilton did deserved a penalty. The rest of it, I have no idea how they come up with what kind of penalty.

This move also had an outcome on the race and therefor is much different then the Massa pit lane violation,

That move by Hamilton basically signalled, Game on, and the driving went downhill from there.

Because if it had been earlier in the race it would have been a drive through penalty and if they can't enforce a drive through during the race they give a 25s penalty.

Indeed. Pit lane violations could be much more dangerous.

[cavallino 2]

25 second penalties are standard. 25 second penalties handed out after the race are common. They generally go unnoticed because they aren't handed at the top of the grid that often.

[freaky2 1]

It was a bad move, and contrary to what some of you saw out of Hamilton and Kimi , I saw nothing that resembled good car control at all. It was poor wet weather racing, too bold, too aggressive. You could tell one of them was going to wreck.

Ok, I can accept that Kimi wasn't driving that well (it takes one look at his hands from the onboard video), but using the same way to look I can say that Hamilton was doing quite better (stab XD). Also, if Kimi hadn't been so set on overtaking him I think he wouldn't have crashed like that, but that's racing, and as I said, he wasn't exactly comfortable anyways.

25 second penalties are standard. 25 second penalties handed out after the race are common. They generally go unnoticed because they aren't handed at the top of the grid that often.

Really?

[DOF_power 0]

I don't watch F1 much so corect me if I am wrong, wasn't Hamilton the new cheating Schumacher like character last year, and wasn't he lifted with a crane onto the track.

The FIA are guilty of stupidity, not malice. This chicane jumping business has been going on for ages - I remember an incident between Montoya and Webber (?) like 6 years ago. And they never clarified the rule.

Put a bloody spike strip on chicane run offs so drivers who go off have to pay for it.

The chicane issue can be traced back to the 57 Ring race; with Fangio admitting sort of he that put part of car on the grass to pass the second Ferrari take the lead and thus win his 5th world championship.

Ofcourse it's very likely that the chicane cutting business goes back to 1906 when the first official Grand Prix was held.

[Max Mosley 2]

The chicane issue can be traced back to the 57 Ring race; with Fangio admitting sort of he that put part of car on the grass to pass the second Ferrari take the lead and thus win his 5th world championship.

Ofcourse it's very likely that the chicane cutting business goes back to 1906 when the first official Grand Prix was held.

Yup! That's what I was asking about! I think people knew what he'd done, but they just didn't care because he obviously deserved it.

[Fed up 0]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5UnPeyzcHM

[maure 1]

Nice...I specially loved the last paragraph. I am glad we inferior people have the illuminated Europeans to tell us what is actual F1.

Hamilton the victim of Ferrari? Sour grapes, blind fanaticism, derisive comments about Rusia. Middle and Far East, endless whinning. Yup, that article has it all.

It says a lot about them and not a thing about us, my friend,...

[maure 1]

Yes, but it has happened so many times to Alonso before we shouldn't be surprised now.

It's hard to accept when some guys in an office change what the track or race have spoken.

It will happen again.

It sure will. The biggest problem of all is the lack of consistency... what's not ok today is dandy tomorrow and viceversa.

That's what happens when the politics of the sport run the sport.

[Fed up 0]

Martin Whitmarsh said: "Following our decision to register our intention to appeal the penalty handed out to Lewis Hamilton by the FIA Stewards at the 2008 Belgian Grand Prix, we hereby confirm that we have now lodged notice of appeal. Lewis describes the incident as follows."

Lewis Hamilton said: "In the closing stages of the race I was catching Kimi consistently, lap by lap, and with three laps remaining I got close enough to attempt to overtake him on the entry to the last chicane. I managed to get slightly ahead of him in the braking area for the first apex of the chicane. He fought back approaching the second apex - but, in doing so, he left no room for me on the inside line. The only way for me to avoid a collision was therefore to cut inside the second apex.

"I came out of the second apex in front of Kimi and so I momentarily lifted-off on the straight, to ensure that Kimi got back in front. The team also came on the radio and instructed me to allow Kimi to repass, which I had already done. As a result, Kimi crossed the start/finish line ahead of me and 6.7km/h quicker than me.

"After allowing Kimi to completely repass, I crossed from the left side of the track to the right side of the track, passing behind Kimi in the process. I then attacked Kimi on the inside of the first corner, and successfully outbraked him."

Martin Whitmarsh added: "From the pit wall, we then asked Race Control to confirm that they were comfortable that Lewis had allowed Kimi to repass, and they confirmed twice that they believed that the position had been given back in a manner that was 'okay'.

"If Race Control had instead expressed any concern regarding Lewis

[rumblestrip 0]

Wouldn't have anathing to do with Hamilton not winning the WDC would it.

It doesn't have anything to do with him nor any other driver. I just don't want to see my favorite tracks neutered and I don't want an F1 where stewards pour over every twitch of the wheel with a fine-tooth comb to scour for infractions that they can penalize in any way, shape, or form.

[cavallino 2]

Really?

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2007/9/6905.html

It's ludicrous to suggest that the 25 second figure was dreamed up to get Massa ahead.

[Giorgio 0]

I have to say I find the penalty totaly ridiculous, but I think Hamilton deserves it.

He is a c#cky b#####d who is high on himself. First, on the grid talking with reporters, he states that he wont ever be overtaken around the outside ever again only to be overtaken on the outside by Kimi 40 seconds after the start. he needs to be grounded

WHAT ON EARTH are you saying???!!he spun out and that's how he was overtook.....

but ofcourse what am i saying now...you must be one of those tifosi-diehard-schumi fans (no prob with schumi, i declare it) who dont want someone else to win constatly and he is not called ''Michael Schumacher'' or in general 'Ferrari Driver''

the fact that he should ease a bit doent mean he doesnt deserve to say things....but he should be penalised for just being ''arrogant'' some times, eh?

[freaky2 1]

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2007/9/6905.html

It's ludicrous to suggest that the 25 second figure was dreamed up to get Massa ahead.

Good to know

[goferrarigo 0]

Surinder Thathi, one of the three stewards who handed down the 25-second penalty to Lewis Hamilton at the Belgian Grand Prix, has denied any talk of a conspiracy against McLaren.

Hamilton was dropped from first to third after race officials deemed he had gained an advantage by cutting a chicane in his battle with then leader Kimi Raikkonen.

But the decision to strip him of victory has caused huge controversy, and led to accusations from fans and the media that there is a bias in the sport against McLaren.

However, Thathi insists that the stewards only handed the penalty down because they believed there had been a clear breach of the rules.

"There was no conspiracy against anybody, McLaren included," Thathi, who comes from Kenya, told news agency Reuters. "We acted professionally and within the FIA rules. Hamilton took a short cut inside of the corner while off the track."

He added: "We had a choice to mete out a time penalty or 10 grid places in the next grand prix race. We opted for the former and handed a time penalty of 25 seconds.

"I know I am a very unpopular person in the United Kingdom now, but then I was doing my job and I know I acted professionally."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/70440

[aussief1 4]

Yeah Hamilton has been lucky in the past too. Personally I don't mind cheating so long as my guys do it better than your guys! And I actually wondered whether we could do something like your spike strip: perhaps it's possible to have more retarding run off areas in places, or the engines could be equiped to have a 'penalty mode' where, upon going over a strip of sensors on the track, your car automatically loses power for a short time.

Kind of like when you play a racing sim!!!

Martin Whitmarsh added: "From the pit wall, we then asked Race Control to confirm that they were comfortable that Lewis had allowed Kimi to repass, and they confirmed twice that they believed that the position had been given back in a manner that was 'okay'.

How can Race Control go back on something they confirmed twice to the McLaren pitwall was okay and needed no further action from McLaren or Lewis???

It's like taking a lolly but before eating the lolly asking your Mum twice if you can eat it, then only to be smacked some 4 hours later on for taking the lolly and eating it!!!

Thanks for posting that article from Whitmarsh Fedup

[cavallino 2]

Ha

The decision was taken by Surinder Thatti, he is more famous for the following email:

"I watched the WRC Mexico highlights last night and I have to voice my opinion on the poor appearance of Sebastian Loeb on WRC - TV. He was unshaven, scruffy looking and with unkempt hair! It is wrong. When the FIA gives him global TV coverage to millions of viewers and to many children worldwide he is a hero and role model. It is very wrong for him to appear as he did at the finish of Rally Mexico and his co-driver in contrast looked neat and clean. I know there is a level of personal freedom one is allowed, but I feel he is taking this too far and someone should talk to him or his team about this."

My 2 cents: If what Mclaren say about race control is true (and that should be easy enough to prove but I don't trust a word that comes out of the Mclaren press office (or from any other team for that matter - my instinct says there is some obfuscation involved on Mclaren's part) ) then they will probably get the ruling overturned. Otherwise, considering that the Alonso - Monza decision stood, they don't have much hope. I think Lewis clearly got an advantage, but if race control screwed up, then it's the FIA's fault.

[goferrarigo 0]

Ha

The decision was taken by Surinder Thatti, he is more famous for the following email:

[pabloh20 1]

Ha

The decision was taken by Surinder Thatti, he is more famous for the following email:

My 2 cents: If what Mclaren say about race control is true (and that should be easy enough to prove but I don't trust a word that comes out of the Mclaren press office (or from any other team for that matter - my instinct says there is some obfuscation involved on Mclaren's part) ) then they will probably get the ruling overturned. Otherwise, considering that the Alonso - Monza decision stood, they don't have much hope. I think Lewis clearly got an advantage, but if race control screwed up, then it's the FIA's fault.

Well you're obviously as much a liar as McLaren then. If you're the 'TotalF1 Prophet of the Year', wouldn't you know?