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#441170
Here is a rough translation of Lauda's comments re Verstappen on German TV:

Lauda: "To be honest, he belongs into a psychiatric ward."
Host: "Now you're exaggerating. I think that's too harsh."
Lauda: "I have to say it like that. Now he says it's Kimi's fault and he's innocent..."
Host: "Well, he means at the start..."
Lauda: "Again... race drivers are professionals that don't endanger themselves unnecessarily. And he doesn't even realize that he might have done something wrong. I will tell Jos to talk to the fellow because he oversteps the limits and it's just unnecessary. He should foster his talent further and win races. With these mistakes he doesn't win races. It's too aggressive towards the other drivers and it's pointless towards himself because he can't get to the front."

Verstappen:

F1 Technical ‏@f1technical now9 seconds ago
Verstappen: “I’d rather drive the Ferrari’s off the road than to allow them to get past”. #areyoukidding? #F1 #BelgianGP

REPLY
#441171
Phenom or not, he is going to get someone killed, isn't he?
Let's face it, Kimi did the "smart" thing; but, can you imagine how this
could have ended up had it been Hamilton there instead?? :eek:


You and Raikkonen are saying similar things.

http://www.grandprix247.com/2016/08/28/ ... -accident/

After the race, visibly angry he told media, “If I had not braked, we would have had a massive accident. It will happen sooner or later if this doesn’t change. I am fine with good, hard racing but that is not correct.”

“Other guys defend but they do it correctly,” Raikkonen said. “He waits and waits and turns after me and I have to brake and slow down. It is not exactly what should happen.

“Maybe it needs an accident before it makes it more clear to everybody but hopefully not because it can be bad for someone. Nobody wants to see anybody get hurt.

“Something is not correct in my view, but the stewards have a different opinion.”
User avatar
By Stephen
#441172
First off, well done to Lewis and Alonso. Absolutely brilliant and mature drives after a challenging weekend.

Then there was Max. What a complete disappointment. His boss Horner might see him as being on the limit but that limit becomes a PR nightmare when someone gets hurt. As for turn one, what did he expect? Blithering idiot and arrogant with it.
#441173
Did Max really do anything wrong? the likes of Senna and Schumacher regularly made these types of manoeuvres, often with similar consequences.

I blame Vettel personally, he agressively chopped across the front of Raikkonen which ultimately caused the contact between the three drivers.

Hamilton got lucky with Magnussen's accident and the red flag, not having already stopped for fresh tires, as did Alonso, but non-the-less a great result to come away with the world championship lead after starting second last. I personally thought that the race was one of the better ones so far, the incidents certainly livened things up.
User avatar
By Stephen
#441176
Did Max really do anything wrong? the likes of Senna and Schumacher regularly made these types of manoeuvres, often with similar consequences.


Yes. Last second changes of direction where another car has significant overspeed is plain suicide. In Hungary he was moving around under braking. The boy needs a talking to. :)
#441178
Especially with DRS the speed differentials now are significantly higher than in Senna and Schumacher days. Doing what Verstappen did blocking Kimi at full speed was nuts.
User avatar
By Stephen
#441179
Yup, enough force to remove wings, wheels and cause a two car Kubica style crash at 180mph+ :yikes:

ETA - had this been Daniil Kvyat he would probably have been banned from the next race...
#441180
Did Max really do anything wrong? the likes of Senna and Schumacher regularly made these types of manoeuvres, often with similar consequences.

Yes. Last second changes of direction where another car has significant overspeed is plain suicide. In Hungary he was moving around under braking. The boy needs a talking to. :)

OK, that one was a little naughty; but it's not uncommon, plenty of drivers made more than one move causing the chasing driver to get out of the gas to avoid a collision. Personally I think the rules has stiffed racing, drivers are so scared of penalties that they don't attack or defend aggressively, I feel racing was better before the current rule-set.
User avatar
By sagi58
#441182
Again, Kimi had the sense to back off; but, if that had been another driver, would he have?
Hint, hint, nudge, nudge, wink, wink... :whip:
#441186
Again Villeneuve calls it like it is:

"Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve claims the lack of action over Max Verstappen's aggressive driving suggests the Dutchman is getting "protection" from the FIA.

Villeneuve believes that motor racing's governing body are the key players in the situation – as he suspects they are reluctant to punish him, because they do not want to take away his box office attraction.

“The issue is the FIA, because it looks like he's got protection,” Villeneuve told Motorsport.com. “They want him to be a star.""


I like this JV quote, a classic: "Twenty years ago someone would have put him in a tree.”

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ville ... ia-811480/
User avatar
By Stephen
#441187
I can understand the excitement of youngsters coming through the ranks but aside his age is there anything to shout about above the likes of Sainz or Wehrlein? These two drivers are as quick (the latter potentially quicker), are trusted by other drivers and don't have the attitude problem Max often exhibits.
#441188
Red Bull immediately after promoting Verstappen separated him from his fathers management but I fear that the damage was already done. Jos's influence will be hard to correct.

Verstappen going off track as he collides with Raikkonen:

Image
#441199
Verstappen going off track as he collides with Raikkonen:

Image

Did Verstappen go off track, to me it looks like he had at least one wheel tarmac side of the white line, there was zero contact before Vettel turned in, Raikkonen was giving Verstappen room.

You can't blame the FIA for not wanting to sanction their "box office attraction" in a sport which is restricted by fuel, tires and overbearing rules. Verstappen has most likely brought fresh interest into F1 after years of decline, personally I like Verstappen's driving style, we need more of that and less of the Health & Safety F1 we have right now.
#441202
Driving style? Verstappen's driving 'style' is not skillful it is just dangerous. Any driver currently on the track could choose to drive that way but they done because a. it will result in their race being ruined due to damage on their car, b. it will result in a major shunt and or injury. Grosjean and Maldonado are good recent examples of this type of driving, one reformed and the other is out thankfully.

The thing that puts Verstappen in a more dangerous category than those two is his declaration that he was trying to drive the Ferrari's off the track as payback for the first corner. This kind of vengeful driving can't be tolerated imo.

Raikkonen has made it clear that there is no room for payback in F1 and Whiting has made it clear as well to Verstappen by issuing him a warning.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/raikk ... ck-814161/

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/whiti ... on-814440/

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