Motorsport

Really happy to see a McLaren win.... but 9 years since the last one? Fuck. Doesn't seem that long since they were winning week in week out, or perhaps I'm just getting old!

Damon Hill having a stormer.

Adds more weight to Hill’s theory IMO.

Did they *really* need to ask race control about Perez's move on Leclerc?!

It's fair to ask if Max genuinely thought an overtake into T2 was likely from that position. It was never even a 50/50 from that far back into a wedge which was always going to close. I don't think he actively crashed into Lewis on purpose but surely he knew that contact was the most probable outcome when he decided to accelerate into that wedge instead of bailing out over the run off. Either he accepted those odds and still went for it or just misjudged things unusually badly for a driver of his calibre.

I think it's pretty telling that Max and Christian are more reserved than usual, they know that a) it was never anything other than a low percentage move from Max and b) the outcome was actually fairly good for them. Hamilton was almost certain to pull away and finish ahead from that point on.

I've only just seen the result. Of course this happens when I decide to not watch a race for once.

Anyway, happy to see many old faces here. The Eurogamer forum will never die.

I've never liked this constant talk of 'hard racing' personally. F1 has become too aggressive under the guise of 'hard racing'. Allowing late weaving and running people out of space on the outside line are short-sighted modern conventions imo. They've all come about because the cars are too safe so modern drivers take more risks and 'accept' contact in a way we never used to have.

Hill and Herbert are very much talking from their experience of the 'old' rules of engagement where you'd never deliberately position your car in a way that was likely to initiate contact if your opponent hadn't seen you. Di Resta and Mass seem to be more comfortable with the modern idea of sticking your car into a space and relying on the other guy to react and get out the way.

I got into F1 in the Hill and Herbert generation and prefer that racing etiquette, but can appreciate why Di Resta and Massa think it's a racing incident in their view. You can't penalise the consequence, only the actions. So, whilst the outcome clearly suited Red Bull and was instigated by Max taking a calculated risk, it's a racing incident and I doubt the stewards will give a penalty.

The worst bit of driving in the race was Ocon just moving across on Vettel at 200mph. Shame this is being ignored entirely as that was hugely dangerous driving.

Just watched it on board one more time. If I was a steward I'd focus on whether the data suggests it was physically possible for Max to avoid hitting that orange curb given his trajectory, even if Hamilton had disappeared and left him the corner.

+5s for this:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExncXiB48lw

This is what I'm talking about. It was wheel to wheel and could easily have resulted in either car getting lifted. Such a small penalty is so short-sighted. Of course, drivers are going to roll the dice and rely on the other driver to avoid a massive accident if the stewards just give them a slap on the risks because disaster was averted.

Start giving race wrecking penalties for these sorts of negligent incidents and they'll quickly reduce in frequency.  There needs to be a rule reset from next season.

Apparently Max gets the blame. Unexpected, as I thought both were to blame.

Oh well.

Next up is Russia, right? Is that a Merc or RB track?

I'll have to go back and listen to what Hill and Herbert said again because I don't recall them ever being as direct as that. Hill seemed very measured in what he was saying and of all the pundits, he has the most integrity and humility (read his autobiography, it is the most brutally honest self-appraisal I've seen from an F1 driver).

I did miss a couple of minutes making a cup of tea though.

You missed the part where he outright said it was a tactical crash then. Same as Herbert. It's very obvious Sky told them to shut the fuck up between the post race and Ted's notebook because they've done a U-turn the Tories would be proud of.

Sochi is historically a Merc/low rake track. It's a strange track as one of the front row qualifiers usually loses out on the long run to turn one as the tow is exceptionally important and P3 can often get to T1 alongside. After that, not much tends to happen and it's fairly hard to overtake (although Hamilton did mug Vettel a few years back whilst he was bringing his tyres up to temp).

Low rake concept obviously isn't as favourable after this years rule changes so it's not as nailed on that Merc will be quickest. History didn't pan out at Silverstone for example and this is really what's making this year so entertaining. It's so hard to predict anything with confidence.

I'd be very surprised if RB took an optional grid penalty there instead of somewhere like Turkey or Texas where you can actually overtake reasonably easily. Starting P4 at Sochi (best case) would be hard to win but P2 is feasible with a good start, or starting P6 it's likely he'd still get P3 as Perez & Gasly will move aside. Starting at the back it'd be a very tall order to get back into the top three in a 'normal' race, just too many cars to pass on a track that's hard to overtake on without a big tyre offset.