2008 Belgian Grand Prix
- Thread starter PeterJB
- 493 comments
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What exactly was wrong? I'm not a Hamilton fan, but I don't see a thing wrong about his behavior. He cut the chicane because, knowing Kimi's driving, it would've ended in a crash. And it would've - Kimi just drove over the chicane like he wasn't there. If anything, he should be punished just as much.
Any penalty will smell of favoritism, because it was such a pitifully small incident that didn't harm anyone - he returned dutifully to his place, and tried again (and succeeded) on the next corner. When Alonso and Massa banged wheels at the Nurburgring last season, did they get punished? Arnoux and Villeneuve? Kubica and Massa at Fuji?
- 212
- Oslo, Norway
- alhajoth
Are you guys absolutely sure it was the chicane-incident that has been punished?
I've read the link posted by Bee, but does anyone have any sort of official statement from the organizers?
Like most of you, I can't believe they would punish him for cutting the chicane, especially since he let Kimi through afterwards, but the commentators on Norwegian telly was convinced Hamilton would be punished for what happened after he had passed Kimi again, when Hamilton appeared to change lanes twice going down the straight.
I've read the link posted by Bee, but does anyone have any sort of official statement from the organizers?
Like most of you, I can't believe they would punish him for cutting the chicane, especially since he let Kimi through afterwards, but the commentators on Norwegian telly was convinced Hamilton would be punished for what happened after he had passed Kimi again, when Hamilton appeared to change lanes twice going down the straight.
- 10,373
- Manchester
- Ardius_
Its official, it was because of the chicane cut:
http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/9/8334.html
Racer_LP
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- 718
- Bruges, Belgium
- GTP_Racer_LP / Racer_LP
- PSN?
Tired Tyres
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- 12,259
- West Yorkshire
- Tired_Tyres
- Tired Tyres
Schumacher used to change lane as many times as he wanted to defend his position and never got punished for it.
- 10,373
- Manchester
- Ardius_
Indeed, if there was no run off, and it was a wall, would Lewis still been deemed to have gain an advantage? Hardly, Kimi would have caused an avoidable accident. As it is, Lewis was forced to go off and then give the place back, which he did. If anyone did something wrong here, it was Kimi.
Interesting to note that in all the situations where a McLaren has done something that had potential for penalties, they have always been penalised, whereas in all Ferrari incidents, they have never been penalised....ok, ok, so usually there is the benefit of the doubt with most of Ferrari's (dangerous exhaust, ramming Sutil and Massa's pistop at Valencia), but its all too suspicious, and why can McLaren not have benefit of the doubt, eh?
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Cap'n Jack
Premium
- 10,062
- South of the South
- GoldMineGutted
Oh man. Forget what Max Mosely is up to in his private life, it's crap like this which makes F1 look bad. đź‘Ž
Rainmaster
(Banned)
- 479
wow maFIA in the house!
well wrong decision or not but as far as I'm no fan of any driver this makes things even much interesting
well wrong decision or not but as far as I'm no fan of any driver this makes things even much interesting
Robin
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- 16,799
- United Kingdom
Damn, missed the end of the GP because I had to go out... didnt think anything would happen so dramatically on like the last 2 laps.... was listening to it on the radio and was like man I need to see this...
Has anyone got a YouTube link or the vid of just the last few laps, I need to see how this craziness occurred!
Thanks
Robin
Has anyone got a YouTube link or the vid of just the last few laps, I need to see how this craziness occurred!
Thanks
Robin
Man, I woke up at 5am to watch the race, it was one of the best races in years, and now they've just totally killed it.
Regardless of any argument about whether he gave the place back sufficiently to satisfy the rule, whether the punishment was too harsh in light of what happened later, or whatever, there's one simple thing that negates any of that - as others have pointed out earlier, Hamilton didn't do anything wrong.
If you watch the video, Hamilton has a much better run than Raikkonen into the chicane and they are side by side on entrance. Under those conditions, both drivers are required to give the other room to race. Raikkonen clearly does not. He uses the extreme outside of the track, leaving nothing near a car's width of space for Hamilton.
It's not reasonable to expect Hamilton to drop back; as I said, both drivers are entitled to room to race alongside each other, neither can legitimately block out the other entirely in that situation. Besides, on a wet track on dry tires in a slow corner, off the racing line, *trying* to hit the brakes and drop back behind Raikkonen cleanly would've been extremely tricky for Hamilton there, and he could easily have ended up spinning it. Given that they entered the corner side by side, it was entirely reasonable for Hamilton to run wide when Raikkonen did not leave him space on the track, and there's no case to answer in any way. If Hamilton had been clearly behind on entry into the corner the case would be entirely different and it would be legitimate for Raikkonen to use the entire track to try and block him, but he Hamilton was not behind.
Regardless of any argument about whether he gave the place back sufficiently to satisfy the rule, whether the punishment was too harsh in light of what happened later, or whatever, there's one simple thing that negates any of that - as others have pointed out earlier, Hamilton didn't do anything wrong.
If you watch the video, Hamilton has a much better run than Raikkonen into the chicane and they are side by side on entrance. Under those conditions, both drivers are required to give the other room to race. Raikkonen clearly does not. He uses the extreme outside of the track, leaving nothing near a car's width of space for Hamilton.
It's not reasonable to expect Hamilton to drop back; as I said, both drivers are entitled to room to race alongside each other, neither can legitimately block out the other entirely in that situation. Besides, on a wet track on dry tires in a slow corner, off the racing line, *trying* to hit the brakes and drop back behind Raikkonen cleanly would've been extremely tricky for Hamilton there, and he could easily have ended up spinning it. Given that they entered the corner side by side, it was entirely reasonable for Hamilton to run wide when Raikkonen did not leave him space on the track, and there's no case to answer in any way. If Hamilton had been clearly behind on entry into the corner the case would be entirely different and it would be legitimate for Raikkonen to use the entire track to try and block him, but he Hamilton was not behind.
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Oh, the other really sad thing is I've seen a couple of people saying Hamilton was being 'immature' by trying to win. He should've just settled behind Raikkonen for a safe increase in his points lead over Massa.
Well, screw that. Hamilton wants to win races, which is the whole point of the enterprise. That approach may not be the best way to cynically claw your way to a title, but IMHO it's the right way to drive and it makes the sport a lot more interesting.
Well, screw that. Hamilton wants to win races, which is the whole point of the enterprise. That approach may not be the best way to cynically claw your way to a title, but IMHO it's the right way to drive and it makes the sport a lot more interesting.
- 10,373
- Manchester
- Ardius_
More in depth report:
"The stewards, having received a report from the race director and having met with the drivers and team managers involved, have...determine a breach of the regulations has been committed by the competitor and impose the penalty referred to," said an FIA statement.
Hamilton was deemed to have "cut the chicane and gained an advantage", thereby breaching Article 30.3(a) of the sporting regulations and Appendix L chapter 4 Article 2 (g) of the International Sporting Code.
Source: http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=43853
"The stewards, having received a report from the race director and having met with the drivers and team managers involved, have...determine a breach of the regulations has been committed by the competitor and impose the penalty referred to," said an FIA statement.
Hamilton was deemed to have "cut the chicane and gained an advantage", thereby breaching Article 30.3(a) of the sporting regulations and Appendix L chapter 4 Article 2 (g) of the International Sporting Code.
Source: http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=43853
Robin
Premium
- 16,799
- United Kingdom
I always felt Hamilton has some amazing luck on his side nearly all of the time and manages to survive most situations where others stumble but it always seems to go when its really important, i.e. China last year and now this.... I guess luck has to run out sometime..
But seriously rules are rules, he just had to take the decision.. Both of them were really driving erratically anyway so one was bound to break some rule..
Robin
But seriously rules are rules, he just had to take the decision.. Both of them were really driving erratically anyway so one was bound to break some rule..
Robin
- 5,603
- England, Warwickshire
- GTP_Sigma
Completely ridiculous, I thought this race was excellent but to see this happen is just stupid, I have watched the clip back a few times and I still can't see where the advantage was gained. They are side by side at the point where Hamilton leaves the track, Hamilton rejoins the track ahead but drops back allowing the Ferrari to re-take the position, I can't see where the advantage is gained from side-by-side to behind. I can't help but getting the feeling that this rulling has some sort of corruption behind it, and it is to help bring a closer championship finish perhaps. I love the racing but the way in which penalties are handled in the sport anger me to no end.
