As far as the race went, was it exciting? Yes.
What it event-filled? Yes.
Was it a proper F1 race? not even.


Maybe next year they can all drive monster trucks. That would be really cool!

The telemetry shows HAM did not brake - which is why he avoided a penalty... But he lifted quite a lot in a spot where you normally would accelerate... I understand F1s "brake" quite hard at speed just on lift off, due to the big wings, I'm not sure how hard they decelerate off throttle at lower safety car speeds, and with KERS systems...(a tesla brakes quitea bit when off the gas, no idea if F1s regen that way too). Apparently HAM was famous for this trick in Karting too so it's nothing new - he's a dick.. Vettel (he's an idiot) should have rammed him straight on instead of his antics, better case for a racing incident, then get a new nose cone... better outcome all around. I still suspectt he FIA will impose more penalties, for example purposes...

I can't understand Haas brakes issue either. They get all their mechanical bits from Ferrari, why not pay a little more and get their brake system/software and call it a day ? Grosjean never had brake issues before, it's gotta be the car... I'm worried his whining will see him out of a job and I thought he showed promise...

If the regen is anything like a road car it would slow him considerably.

I'll say it again, the call to the pits to have Botas slow shows just how big a DB he is. Wasn't he complaining about perceived team orders of Ferrari at Monaco? Hmmm

Hamilton definitely slowed to try to open a gap by causing Vettel to slam on his brakes.

The FIA and others are being too literal by pouncing on the word "brake" in "brake check", which is a slang term for "suddenly slowed", which is literally what happened.

It looks as if Vettel just got pissed off. It happens.

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Some of the comments on the F1 forums are quite hilarious.

If any other driver was in that situation, they would have done the same as Ham including, especially, Vettel. You may not like him but when racing at this level is so down to small opportunities, why wouldn't you force a driver behind to brake hard and try to get a little gap on them?

To me, the whole thing is sort of blown out of proportion. Ham slowed drastically enough to cause Vettel to lock his front wheels and still he collided with Ham. Vettel and Ham were barely moving when Vettel accelerated and bumped wheels with Ham.

These guys are the very best drivers in the world. They were in complete control of their cars. It's like watching two guys fencing, and taking a time to exchance insults and trimming petals off of each other's boutonnieres. Very entertaining, and hardly worth getting too worked up about.

Ah, so here we go... (After many calls for it from the british media) the FIA is opening an investigation on the VET-HAM contact in Baku, to see if further punishment is warranted.. My guess is they'll ban him for a race (which will bring the championship in line). I still think they're both a$$hats and both deserved a penalty.

HAM's argument of "bad influence on the kids" is amusing... he's the champion of swerving at starts, almost put competitors in the wall on many occasions... Pot, kettle....

For the first time Ever, I agree with Villeneuve's opinion that it wasn't that big deal, it made for good TV, and it will create an interesting end of the season. They both suffered, let them race now...

sorry, racing contact is one thing
But intentionally ramming is not done.

If either car had some minor stress fracture in one of those critical suspension linkages and arms.
And 10 laps later have that wheel or its suspension come ondone at 250kph.. killing or seriously injuring a driver, marshal or spectator, he would be charged and prosecuted.

In complete control is not the word i would use for somebody who rams another car like that. Under a yellow flag.
It's not race contact , while duking it out for position, and points. That i could understand, this , was not race contact, it was yellow flag.

Road Rage is the word, and with the money these guys make, you would expect a lot more control over their temper.

Hambone may be a bit of a dick in the way he did slow down.And perhaps they need to amend the rules to make sure that never happens again. Hell maybe he needs a 10 sec penalty for causing a potentialy dangerous situation under caution.

But what Vettel did, is inexcusable and deserves much more then 10 secs, it deserves a ban for a few races. There is NO room for such shenanigans in F1. It's not acceptable. Not under a caution.

^ Maybe you can watch the video.

I don't really share the apocalyptic view that you have, and certainly not the blanket scenario type of reasoning.

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Each contact is a separate case. In this case, I do not see the point of "what could happen in 1 out of 100 cases" type of thinking. It looks minor. I still think it's blow out of proportion by a lot of really bored people who have nothing better to do. Two guys being a-holes. A penalty was given. As Fernando says, it's done now and the best thing to do is just move on. The FIA love to regulate the element of competition. They're choking off the element of danger and sport.

The ultimate in irony has been redefined:

Vettel: Formula 1 is for grown-ups | PlanetF1 : PlanetF1

I would prefer it if these two just said, "yeah I hit that MF and would do it again" or "yeah I'm a DB and intentionally slowed to F with Seb". Both of these guys are the first to complain if someone else does something stupid.

I'll have to rewatch Rush this weekend to see James Hunt kick the crap out of the reporter and Niki Lauda tell people to F off. That will make things right again in my mental image of F1 and make men seem like men.

I seem to recall M Schumacher (and others) running to another pit garage during a race or two to voice his displeasure. I don't want the stupidity of the brawls from NASCAR (sucks) but if you are going to do something at least act like a big boy and own up to it.

My theory is that Hammy gets away with a lot of Sh&T without penalty and that other drivers see this and get worked up about it. Does anyone remember when Grosjean got a race or two ban when he first started because he could not stop hitting other cars or forcing people off track? Apply that standard across the board, actually don't b/c no one would be racing...

Possible that the stewards overlooked Hammy's culpability due to the equipment issue with resulting extra pit stop and considered that a Karma thing that served as a penalty for his role in the debacle?

Just thinking out loud.

I think he should take Danica's seat in this weekend's Daytona race.

Danica still has a ride?

Why?

JR

Totally... Because that's exactly what both did. Ask Rosberg about the saintly Hamilton and his perfect behavior influencing younger generations... Ask Weber about getting a love tap from Vettel under safety car conditions...

It's kind of funny if you follow F1, the british press is definitely out to hang Vettel, the rest are more "meh, both are idiots"... Amusingly Jenson Button tweeted that Vettel got his penalty and we should move on, Martin Brundle pretty much said the same thing (no big deal), and both are getting a lof of flack for not coming to the defense of Saint Hamilton ;-)

I hope the FIA slaps VET on the wrist and make him sweep a track or something. Disqualification would influence the WC a lot given Mercedes' resurgence. I kinda dislike both drivers, but at least the rivalry is interesting now. Those 2 were way too chummy and busy rubbing lotion on each other at press conferences until now... Knives are out, should be fun.

I'd be happy if Ham gets a -1 position docked from his starting position at Austria, and Seb gets -2 and then they send 'em back out and tell them to go race hard.

On the other hand, it seems Europeans love to be governed, regulated, sanitized, and neutered by the pimp hand of Big Government, so it's not gonna happen. The FIA will continue to kill the spirit of racing, and replace it with something more like chess.

Who?

She is a swimsuit model, or so I've been told.

Vettel finally admits he “overreacted” in Hamilton clash


https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-vettel-wrong-fia-baku-926287/


Sebastian Vettel has confessed that his swerve into Lewis Hamilton behind the safety car in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was an over-reaction.

FIA takes no further action on Vettel after full apology..............


https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-vettel-fia-baku-apology-926265/