I don't understand why people make a big thing about the double points finale - it's still only 14 points between 1st and 2nd, and could just as easily go to Rosberg as Lewis, and regarding DNFs, just because Lewis has suffered them and Rosberg hasn't doesn't somehow mean Rosberg is due a DNF any more than Lewis is due another one.
Not saying Rosberg is due DNF's at all, what I am saying its really silly to be saying if Rosberg wins tomorrow its all over, 11 races left including tomorrow's, anything could happen.....
One of the reason why people dont like the double points final race, rosberg could be 49 points in the lead, he dnf's and Hamilton wins, he loses the championship, all his hard work down the pan, "THATS THE BIG THING" and totally unfair.
Not saying Rosberg is due DNF's at all, what I am saying its really silly to be saying if Rosberg wins tomorrow its all over, 11 races left including tomorrow's, anything could happen.....
One of the reason why people dont like the double points final race, rosberg could be 49 points in the lead, he dnf's and Hamilton wins, he loses the championship, all his hard work down the pan, "THATS THE BIG THING" and totally unfair.
Precisely !
Neither of then is "due" a DNF, but the fact is one could happen in any race.
So taking together ( in fact you could take either of ) the number of races still to go and double points for the last race, it is indeed very silly to talk about it being all over if Rosberg wins tomorrow.
To be fair, though, Lewis takes the "silly" award of the day.
Nightmare interview. It would have been great if he could have said : "What a Plonker I was there !" and many would have laughed with him and sympathised to a degree at the final events of a chaotic session. Instead, folk are left laughing at him.
Think Williams were plonkers in qualifying as well.
You could say they just didn't get out at the wrong time to do their last runs.
But their were late going out for their first runs. Even though there must have been a good chance that the best weather in Q1 would have been at the start of the session.
So they played with fire twice in Q1. Why did they try to be clever?
Williams strategists need to take a long hard look at themselves.
He's only sixth on the starting grid. It's not as if he's been punted to the back of the grid so I've no idea why he's in such a mood. He should choose this as an opportunity to show what he can do.
Looks like his biggest battle this year wont be with Rosberg but with himself.
That's absolutely spot on. If he loses this championship (and I'm not saying he will), a lot of the problem will be down to him. He hasn't mentally recovered since the drama of Monaco. His issue is that when things go well, he's very much on a knife edge, and it takes something very small for him to just blow up.
I dunno...there's so much going on in his head and with himself. He's been handed the biggest opportunity of his life so far to win a second world championship and he's failing to hold it together. Someone like Alonso would have put Rosberg to the sword by winning in Monaco and maintaining momentum. Schumacher in his heyday would have given his teammates no mercy. Hamilton has given Rosberg an open goal with his mistakes and add to that Rosberg's consistency, and it's clear to see who's the likeliest championship winner based on current form.
This is Hamilton's biggest chance of a second title, but as I've earlier, under pressure he is starting to show signs of weakness...whether it be that he's just overdoing things, or misjudging things, or trying too hard, or just plainly overthinking things. And as I said earlier, he needs a no-nonsense manager, someone who will push him. Hamilton responds best when he had someone to push him, but don't we all? Without people to push us out of our comfort zone, we'd never improve. All this Lewis-being-his-own-man stuff hasn't worked really. See Andy Murray as an example of what a no-nonsense manager/trainer (Ivan Lendl) can help a player achieve.
The championship is not over by a long stretch but Hamilton must start clawing back the deficit now. He only needs a 14 point deficit then win the double-points race at the end of the season and be world champion (hopefully on countback). I just question whether he's smart enough, efficient enough and mentally tough enough to do it. He has the pace, but so many drivers have had just pace alone and been nearly-men (e.g. Montoya). He has to show he has more than that in the tank.
But he's not the only one to have cocked up qualifying. Ferrari are well in a mire, and I know they've misjudged the conditions, but their car looks a shambles frankly. Ferrari have regressed into the shambles they were in, in the early 90s and both Alonso and Raikkonen deserve much better. Ferrari need a strong leader...I'm not sure a man with no F1 experience like Mattiacci is that man. Alonso just cocked up on his own by spinning but at least he dealt with it like a man, unlike some. And Williams baffle me...they have an excellent car, but like in 2012, they aren't making the best use of it. An Alonso would have probably won in Austria in a Williams. Williams could have probably the double the number of points they already have in the championship, with smarter strategy and a bit more luck. That, and a better rear end, and they could easily be the new challengers to Mercedes in place of Red Bull.
I do have sympathy for the teams who had a poor qualifying yesterday because of finding themselves on the wrong tyres. The weather was so changeable. I don't think I have experienced a day where in the course of an hour it switched from brilliant sunshine to showers and back so many times. Track conditions were all over the place minute by minute.
He's only sixth on the starting grid. It's not as if he's been punted to the back of the grid so I've no idea why he's in such a mood. He should choose this as an opportunity to show what he can do.
Looks like his biggest battle this year wont be with Rosberg but with himself.
I don't think it was the actual result, itself, that pissed him off. It was more the fact that he tried to do something smartarsed and made himself look like a complete wally.
Hamilton really needs to remind himself that he's probably the quickest driver in the field and that's his strength.
Rather than buggering about, trying to play the sort of games that are second-nature to drivers like Schuey or Alonso, he needs to concentrate on doing what he does best.
Hopefully, tyres, brakes and reliability won't be an issue today and we'll just get 2 hours of Lewis in maximum-attack mode.
If they restart in old positions it shouldn't be under the safety car. That is going to detract from the race massively considering the gains Hamilton etc had made. Sometimes this sport frustrates me!
If they restart in old positions it shouldn't be under the safety car. That is going to detract from the race massively considering the gains Hamilton etc had made. Sometimes this sport frustrates me!
I thought they said they have assembled on the grid in the positions they were in at the time of the crash?
Seems Kimi has dented some of the armco and it's gotta be repaired before the restart.
Gonna take a while.
Wonder if the BBC will be cutting the coverage short to make way for Bargain Hunt, DeadEnders or some other shite again?
I see that, despite Hamilton driving around the outside of Vettel and thus ending up right on the left-hand edge of the track, Vettel still saw fit to run wide on the exit and bump wheels with Lewis.
Isn't there a rule about always leaving a car-width of room?
I thought they said they have assembled on the grid in the positions they were in at the time of the crash?
Yes that's correct.
I don't understand why Coulthard said this would benefit Hamilton though. If Ham was 4th at the flag and he's 4th on the safety car restart (safety car pulls in after 1 lap) he's in much the same position as before. If he was about to pass someone when the flags came out he's now worse off... if there was a gap in front of him, he's better off.
In first 2 laps of a grand prix it used to be a complete reset - the grid would form up as a whole new race with the same positions before the first start. Minus cars that couldn't restart.
After lap 2 - if it was a standing start restart they would form up in positions of that point in the race.
This is poor - proper restart please! Only safety car starts were applicable when it was rain! It was 2002 when they decided to almost ditch red flag from starts. Remember the big Australia crash. Germany 2001 last lap1/2 red flag. Belgium 2001 was a big crash on lap 6. Both restarted standing starts. Korea 2010 was lap 3 - but due to rain.
In first 2 laps of a grand prix it used to be a complete reset - the grid would form up as a whole new race with the same positions before the first start. Minus cars that couldn't restart.
After lap 2 - if it was a standing start restart they would form up in positions of that point in the race.
This is poor - proper restart please! Only safety car starts were applicable when it was rain! It was 2002 when they decided to almost ditch red flag from starts. Remember the big Australia crash. Germany 2001 last lap1/2 red flag. Belgium 2001 was a big crash on lap 6. Both restarted standing starts. Korea 2010 was lap 3 - but due to rain.
Safety car restart (in same positions as when the flags came out) reduces the chances of another mash-up and a 2nd red flag. Makes sense to me, we can't have the race going on for hours and hours - or getting shorter and shorter, we'll have lost an hour on this one alone and the race limit is 4 hours.
Comments
Not saying Rosberg is due DNF's at all, what I am saying its really silly to be saying if Rosberg wins tomorrow its all over, 11 races left including tomorrow's, anything could happen.....
One of the reason why people dont like the double points final race, rosberg could be 49 points in the lead, he dnf's and Hamilton wins, he loses the championship, all his hard work down the pan, "THATS THE BIG THING" and totally unfair.
Precisely !
Neither of then is "due" a DNF, but the fact is one could happen in any race.
So taking together ( in fact you could take either of ) the number of races still to go and double points for the last race, it is indeed very silly to talk about it being all over if Rosberg wins tomorrow.
To be fair, though, Lewis takes the "silly" award of the day.
Nightmare interview. It would have been great if he could have said : "What a Plonker I was there !" and many would have laughed with him and sympathised to a degree at the final events of a chaotic session. Instead, folk are left laughing at him.
His sponsors must be livid when they see interviews like today's. Are they really getting value for money?
Hamilton is his own worst enemy sometimes. Just needs to build some momentum again and remember there are double points on offer later!
You could say they just didn't get out at the wrong time to do their last runs.
But their were late going out for their first runs. Even though there must have been a good chance that the best weather in Q1 would have been at the start of the session.
So they played with fire twice in Q1. Why did they try to be clever?
Williams strategists need to take a long hard look at themselves.
That's absolutely spot on. If he loses this championship (and I'm not saying he will), a lot of the problem will be down to him. He hasn't mentally recovered since the drama of Monaco. His issue is that when things go well, he's very much on a knife edge, and it takes something very small for him to just blow up.
I dunno...there's so much going on in his head and with himself. He's been handed the biggest opportunity of his life so far to win a second world championship and he's failing to hold it together. Someone like Alonso would have put Rosberg to the sword by winning in Monaco and maintaining momentum. Schumacher in his heyday would have given his teammates no mercy. Hamilton has given Rosberg an open goal with his mistakes and add to that Rosberg's consistency, and it's clear to see who's the likeliest championship winner based on current form.
This is Hamilton's biggest chance of a second title, but as I've earlier, under pressure he is starting to show signs of weakness...whether it be that he's just overdoing things, or misjudging things, or trying too hard, or just plainly overthinking things. And as I said earlier, he needs a no-nonsense manager, someone who will push him. Hamilton responds best when he had someone to push him, but don't we all? Without people to push us out of our comfort zone, we'd never improve. All this Lewis-being-his-own-man stuff hasn't worked really. See Andy Murray as an example of what a no-nonsense manager/trainer (Ivan Lendl) can help a player achieve.
The championship is not over by a long stretch but Hamilton must start clawing back the deficit now. He only needs a 14 point deficit then win the double-points race at the end of the season and be world champion (hopefully on countback). I just question whether he's smart enough, efficient enough and mentally tough enough to do it. He has the pace, but so many drivers have had just pace alone and been nearly-men (e.g. Montoya). He has to show he has more than that in the tank.
But he's not the only one to have cocked up qualifying. Ferrari are well in a mire, and I know they've misjudged the conditions, but their car looks a shambles frankly. Ferrari have regressed into the shambles they were in, in the early 90s and both Alonso and Raikkonen deserve much better. Ferrari need a strong leader...I'm not sure a man with no F1 experience like Mattiacci is that man. Alonso just cocked up on his own by spinning but at least he dealt with it like a man, unlike some. And Williams baffle me...they have an excellent car, but like in 2012, they aren't making the best use of it. An Alonso would have probably won in Austria in a Williams. Williams could have probably the double the number of points they already have in the championship, with smarter strategy and a bit more luck. That, and a better rear end, and they could easily be the new challengers to Mercedes in place of Red Bull.
I don't think it was the actual result, itself, that pissed him off. It was more the fact that he tried to do something smartarsed and made himself look like a complete wally.
Hamilton really needs to remind himself that he's probably the quickest driver in the field and that's his strength.
Rather than buggering about, trying to play the sort of games that are second-nature to drivers like Schuey or Alonso, he needs to concentrate on doing what he does best.
Hopefully, tyres, brakes and reliability won't be an issue today and we'll just get 2 hours of Lewis in maximum-attack mode.
Wonder if Kimi will cop a penalty for unsafely rejoining the circuit?
Seems like it would be deserved.
Fair play to Massa for doing his best to get out of Kimi's way. Shame he didn't manage to avoid him completely.
Be interesting to see quite how they figure out the grid for the restart, given that Hamilton had already made it up into 3rd (?) place.
I thought they said they have assembled on the grid in the positions they were in at the time of the crash?
I hope Kimi is OK, fair play to Massa & Kobayashi for not hitting him square on.
Gonna take a while.
Wonder if the BBC will be cutting the coverage short to make way for Bargain Hunt, DeadEnders or some other shite again?
I see that, despite Hamilton driving around the outside of Vettel and thus ending up right on the left-hand edge of the track, Vettel still saw fit to run wide on the exit and bump wheels with Lewis.
Isn't there a rule about always leaving a car-width of room?
Yes that's correct.
I don't understand why Coulthard said this would benefit Hamilton though. If Ham was 4th at the flag and he's 4th on the safety car restart (safety car pulls in after 1 lap) he's in much the same position as before. If he was about to pass someone when the flags came out he's now worse off... if there was a gap in front of him, he's better off.
After lap 2 - if it was a standing start restart they would form up in positions of that point in the race.
This is poor - proper restart please! Only safety car starts were applicable when it was rain! It was 2002 when they decided to almost ditch red flag from starts. Remember the big Australia crash. Germany 2001 last lap1/2 red flag. Belgium 2001 was a big crash on lap 6. Both restarted standing starts. Korea 2010 was lap 3 - but due to rain.
Safety car restart (in same positions as when the flags came out) reduces the chances of another mash-up and a 2nd red flag. Makes sense to me, we can't have the race going on for hours and hours - or getting shorter and shorter, we'll have lost an hour on this one alone and the race limit is 4 hours.
Poor old Felipe Massa, he leaves Ferrari and they still find a way of mucking up his race..:D