Oz Gp Race Thread.

[The Rumble Strip 0]

Great to have F1 back.

Here's to a good season.

[Quiet One 15]

Andr

[Max Mosley 2]

Thanks for the clarification!

Now THAT's dumb. Nothing to penalise there. Let them crash and learn!

He should have been penalised twice. After school detention for the Vettel boy!

[Quiet One 15]

He should have been penalised twice. After school detention for the Vettel boy!

Hush, you!

Better if they don't start penalizing everybody for these kind of things. Or your boy Hamilon will start every race from the back

[dribbler 6]

Oh damn and blast, must be my age; I posted these ramblings in the 'practice, qualifying' thread by mistake. I simply had to copy and paste to let you all have the benefit of my thoughts in the correct part of our wonderful little website.

Sorry I'm late, had to wash my hair straight after the race and it's only just dried. I refuse to use a towel or a hairdryer. Andres can only dream of such a problem. So, my thoughts, if you care;

Good race. Straight forward job by Jenson, even though he was at pains to stress that it wasn't easy (well, after lucking Hungary '06 you would shout from the rooftops that this was a win on merit too). Makes me smile when they make it look easy, makes it seem like it was. Barrichello was great, even though he was seemingly intent on playing dodgems. Lewis proved that talent and patience will often rule the day.

I don't think Vettel was to blame. He braked early, yes, but if Bob was going to put himself on the outside he should have gone around him on the outside and given him room. It's not like he would have been shocked to see Sebastien there, he knew he was there. Look at the onboards, Seb' had nowhere to go whereas Bob had plenty of places to go. He put blind faith in a risky move. He could have taken him on the next corner too, he would have had the inside. Still, I'm not complaining; we want them pushing to the end, not cruise and collecting. Nico was great, I hope he can feature more. Glock was impressive too, putting manners on Fernando.

The rest were a little forgetable.

It's weird, one can take solace from the strangest of things; The ones I hoped would see sense here are still seeing sense and the ones who I knew would act like big c0cks are still acting like big c0cks. Simply cannot wait for the next plethora of idiot theory. How cool, only seven days to wait.

[maure 1]

Words such as 'blame' and 'fault' are harsh, and unfortunate (I should have used others!), motor racing is a sport that will see contact through mistakes, end of story. In this one incident I think Kubica was the instigator, in the past he's proven to be damn good at passing, but I'd not class him as a bad driver.

If we had the same, reliable stewards at each race, maybe having 'a word' with drivers when they make a c#ck-up, then a bollocking at the next race if it happens again, then a penalty 'cos they were persistent offenders, then fair enough - but all that's happening with the present system is creating an atmosphere where *drivers could be nervous about making a pass, and having too much caution causes accidents...

Fair enough.

When Muzza cheers, it's a sign of affection, you should be flattered

Don't I show him enough love?

A fairer system is needed - at the very least to stop conspiracy theorists getting on everyone's tits.

Geez, man. We need m-o-t-o-r-r-a-c-i-n-g. Who gives a fck about theorists or anyone's tits.

[dribbler 6]

Geez, man. We need m-o-t-o-r-r-a-c-i-n-g. Who gives a fck about theorists or anyone's tits.

Check out who's late discovering marijuana.

[mikathegreat2 2]

Where was Kimi? (again)

He f*cked up with 5 laps left!

Danny boy!

It was Vettel's fault!

Kubica's !!!

Vettel apologised, but I'm confused as to why.

If he knows he could have backed out and avoided contact then fair enough, he might feel he should have relinquished the place (but fcuk knows why, it's up to the person behind to drive past, not 'through'!), but if he was carrying so much speed that he understeered into Kubica, then it's a racing accident - Kubica was trying the slightly more 'unconventional' route round the outside, and whilst still alongside (presumably knowing Vettel was there?), why wouldn't he give him a good car's width (the in-car shot shows he gave about half that)? If he could have carried the speed from there, he'd be on the inside of the immediate left hand kink and should have been long gone after that (in view of the grip Vettel didn't have).

Too much bollocking penalising again. And, dammit, where has the unwritten rule gone that says unless you're halfway (or more) past the guy before the apex, and still gaining space, then you should go for it, any less and you're going to have an accident.

It's not that long since they were both in Karts, they don't have mirrors, so 'being unsighted' isn't a good excuse - definately not a 'thinking' pass (that Rosberg is damn good, at for example) just a reliance that he thought Vettel could disappear. I rate them both very highly, but Robert's move was a few notches above 'optimistic'.

Meds verdict: Kubica's fault 100%. Penalty: Must repair the car himself.

Thank you!

[Grabthaw the Hammerslayer 4]

Who gives a fck about theorists or anyone's tits.

Well, me, yes, having considered carefully I would say tits are high on my agenda.

Oh you mean that sort of tits...

[Medilloni 6]

Geez, man. We need m-o-t-o-r-r-a-c-i-n-g. Who gives a fck about theorists or anyone's tits.

And some fell on stoney ground

[pabloh20 1]

Thanks for the clarification!

Now THAT's dumb. Nothing to penalise there. Let them crash and learn!

Dumb, but in the words of Tom Jones, it's not unusual.

You have to wonder if he got the penalty because of the apology. It's almost like it was too good an opportunity for the stewards to resist.

[Rainmaster 7]

Dumb, but in the words of Tom Jones, it's not unusual.

You have to wonder if he got the penalty because of the apology. It's almost like it was too good an opportunity for the stewards to resist.

Yep, Vettel is too nice for his own good.

[freaky2 1]

Yep, Vettel is too nice for his own good.

But I like that ^^ Plus, he's not gonna make any more mistakes, so nothing to worry about

[Oli 1]

So you claim that F1 is not a "fair sport" even though your rant was meant to prove to yourself that it was...

No on both counts.

It's all about suspension of belief. F1 is just a TV show... and, as with all TV shows, there are people that actually believe MacGyver is a real man that can build a time machine with paper clips and gorilla snot. These same people will love/hate their favourite fictional characters with whom, they will make themselves believe, they have personal relationships.

Happy endings. That's all the crowd wants.

Oh the irony.

Actually what Whiting did yesterday with the 1st safety car was probably fairer, but it wasn't a good precedent. In many cases he won't be able to do it even if the leader is going to pit half a lap after the accident and he should be equally concerned about the 2nd, 3rd... Unfortunately a SC is always going to damage somebody's race.

Yep.

Not always... and, of course, fair for whom?

But it is groovy to see that, regarding the role of the SC, safety has become subservient to "fairness"... what a plot twist!

Nope.

[pabloh20 1]

Yep, Vettel is too nice for his own good.

Possibly, only time will tell.

But I like that ^^ Plus, he's not gonna make any more mistakes, so nothing to worry about

Me too. Like a breath of fresh air in a very bitter sport.

Either that or he is being very clever..................if he gets a reputation for admitting mistakes, then maybe a bit later in his career when it really matters, he won't apologise and people will say 'well bollock me, he didn't apologise, so it can't be his fault'

[5P33D3V1L 0]

Yes Vettel may be tooo nice off track with the apology and all.

But on track he's a tough cookie. And the crash proved that Seb wont give up a place that easily. Shame Kubica didnt leave him any room. Maybe Glock should of shown him how its done.

[Oli 1]

Anybody found a video of Trulli overtaking Hamilton yet? I'm still struggling to think of a scenario that makes Trulli deserving of a 25 second penalty.

[Quiet One 15]

Anybody found a video of Trulli overtaking Hamilton yet? I'm still struggling to think of a scenario that makes Trulli deserving of a 25 second penalty.

Nope.There's just one amateur video of Hamilton overtaking Trulli, but the other one has been removed from youtube. On the other hand, the explanation Trulli gave is quite pausible:

Drivers are allowed to overtake if the car ahead has some kind of obviouis problem. Trulli went off road, that's an obvious problem so Hamilton overtook Trulli. Then Hamilton was told from his pitwall to slow down and let Trulli retake the position. That was a mistake for Hamilton had legally won the position, but the rules are unclear enough to make them doubt I guess. So Hamilton slowed down (he admitted so). Now comes the interesting part: Trulli watches Hamilton slow down and THAT is also an thinks something is wrong with Lewis car...an "obvious problem" so he retakes the position. He obviously wasn't to blame. Ambiguous rules and stewards micromanagement are to blame.

Conclussion: Stweards should be given a 25 sec penalty, which will make them miss the the bus and arrive 25 seconds late to every meeting until Sepang.

[Max Mosley 2]

It is a ludicrous situation. What I can't understand is how the stewards could not understand something so clear. I believe they interviewed Jarno and Lewis after the race about this incident, so surely Hamilton could produce radio transcripts showing what happened. Something still doesn't add up for me.

[B.P. 0]

I'm still questioning the penalty for Vettel. As I see it they (SV & RK) had a coming together and both cars were damaged but it was when they collided with the walls because they took the proceeding corners too quick that their cars were totally screwed. For me it was the inexperience of both SV & RK driving a damaged car. MW and NH both made it back to the pits after the first corner incident with similar damage. And why isn't Rubens given a penalty? It looks very similar to me.

[Piotr 0]

The whole thing was a 'heat of the moment' thing Russ, can't blame them in such a manic sport (unless they make it a habit!), but shouldn't be handing out these stupid fines willy-nilly either.

Vettel is a natural nice guy and I think his apology (on the radio and afterwards) was a knee-jerk reaction - nobody that loves their sport likes to fcuk up another's race unfairly. I'd like Robert to be asked, "where did you think Vettel would be as you turned in?".

Sheesh, us armchair experts should run the FIA

the answer is BEHIND him. Vettel admitted he was so slow (2 seconds slower than Kubica) because his tires were graining. I don't understand why people blame Kubica - he had his sights set on Button, had new and much better tires, and was gaining at a rate that would allow him to at least catch up to Jensen. Vettel was on graining tires, MUCH slower, and he had to know he could not possibly brake fast enough into the corner. So, let me revers the question, where did Vettel think he would go with Kubica along side of him?

As I stated, I will not assign blame, but saying that it's 100% kubi's fault is silly. Oh, and now Anthony Davidson just stated that Kubica was blameless in it, so as you can see, even experts are divided on this. Vettel apologizing was maby naive, but heartfel, considering he knew that his tires were not up to hard breaking.

And as afterthought - if it was Hamilton vs. Vettel , I believe the opinion of British press would have been slightly different.

[pumpdoc 2]

At last! Something worth waking up for.

It occurs to me that, if Bob had backed off, then the flowerpot man would have just outbraked himself into the greenery anyway. My hindsight is 20/20 in situations like these..... The gorilla verdict: they should both be sent to the headmaster with no scones for tea. Or, it was just one of those things you get when two racers refuse to give up. And Vettel shouldn't have owned up. Wimp.

Agree 100% Kubica had no problem with having better rubber etc and could've taken him at the next corner or later, It twas a truly WTF moment, but will the nose learn from his blunder? Maybe the nose was the problem as maybe he's blind out of his right eye(sure drove that way), and couldn't see past his nose with his left. .and before anyone gits there tit in a wringer I've got a fairly large one also.

[The Rumble Strip 0]

I think Kubica was a little hasty myself. He would have got by on the next straight but you can't blame either driver for attacking or defending a podium place.

Racing incident.

[pumpdoc 2]

I think Kubica was a little hasty myself. He would have got by on the next straight but you can't blame either driver for attacking or defending a podium place.

Racing incident.

exactly, and Kuby made the wrong choice, I think both of them mucking it up should be penalty enough.

[Medilloni 6]

the answer is BEHIND him. Vettel admitted he was so slow (2 seconds slower than Kubica) because his tires were graining.

Why would he think Vettel was behind him if Vettel's car was alongside and in Bob's view? I'm not sure what you're saying here Piotr, are you saying Bob couldn't see a car alongside him? Vettel's front wing was level with Bob's front wheel just before the impact, how can that not be seen? Indeed, this is the point that the two cars tried to mate.

I don't understand why people blame Kubica - he had his sights set on Button, had new and much better tires, and was gaining at a rate that would allow him to at least catch up to Jensen.

Well you won't understand why people blame Kubica, love makes you blind

Of course he had his sites set on other cars, they all do, but it's an irrelevant comment if we're talking about the physics of two cars aiming for the same apex whilst alongside each other (which I thought we were). There was what, 3 laps to go? Button's times were:

49 1:29.395

50 1:29.576

51 1:29.296

52 1:29.868

53 1:29.497

54 1:29.807

55 1:29.636

I'm crap at sums, but if Bob had caught him he'd need to have lapped faster than he was doing to catch him, let alone pass him, and Button's times would indicate (through their consistency) that he wasn't in trouble on the super-softs, and likely had enough to pull enough out of them for one more corking lap.

Vettel was on graining tires, MUCH slower, and he had to know he could not possibly brake fast enough into the corner. So, let me revers the question, where did Vettel think he would go with Kubica along side of him?

Maybe true. To answer your question, I don't know. I only know that I didn't see Vettel lock his fronts (making the stopping process longer), and based on the shots I've seen, Vettel was clearly in sight of Bob. If your wife is on the inside at a right hand junction and I try to occupy the same piece of road (as opposed to driving around her), knowing she's there, you'd probably (rightly) want to punch my lights out.

As I stated, I will not assign blame, but saying that it's 100% kubi's fault is silly. Oh, and now Anthony Davidson just stated that Kubica was blameless in it, so as you can see, even experts are divided on this. Vettel apologizing was maby naive, but heartfel, considering he knew that his tires were not up to hard breaking.

On my original post, I stuck one of these > by that comment, work it out. Anthony Davidson has less years as an armchair expert than I, who the fcuk do you want to believe? >>>>> <<<<< Of course Vettel knows he might have played safe and let people past, but there was 3 laps to go, I'd say it was Bob's job to find away around a car that was 2 seconds a lap slower, and I bet Vettel's team manager thought the same.

And as afterthought - if it was Hamilton vs. Vettel , I believe the opinion of British press would have been slightly different.

This isn't about anyone else, it's about two great young drivers having a bad moment, and there are plenty of other incidents that have other reactions by the race stewards - I rarely think anything the stewards do (in F1) is fair, but not for some of the political reasons that some on here believe. I don't 'do' Hamilton, and I don't ever read British papers (unless you include Autosport and the Beeb).

But last of all, since you've mentioned a comparison about two other drivers, if Bob was on the inside and Vettel drove into the side of him, then

....I believe the opinion of British press Piotr would have been slightly different.