FORUMula1.com

[gdh]

...nice to see Alonzo's concern for Kimi.

My highlight of the race!!

...and JB's concern for FA as well.

Didn't see that but great to hear.

[darwin dali]

Yeah, they played the radio transmission where JB asked whether FA was alright.

[sagi58]

He actually asked the question twice,
probably to be sure he'd been heard!!

[sagi58]

Austrian GP: How Raikkonen & Alonso's scary crash unfolded

First-lap crashes are nothing new in Formula 1 - put 20 breathtakingly quick cars in close proximity on a race track and the law of averages dictates that eventually two or more of them will come into collision.

Sometimes it's just bashing wheels, yet at other times it results in truly spectacular incidents.

Kimi Raikkonen's tank-slapper and messy tangle with Fernando Alonso at Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix sits firmly in the latter category.

Race stewards determined the crash was a racing incident with neither driver at fault.

But just how did two of the world's best and most experienced drivers, with three world titles and 462 race starts between them, come together in such a big way?

Out of position, out of luck

Both Raikkonen and Alonso started near the back of the grid, Raikkonen in 14th after a disastrous qualifying session and Alonso in 19th in his uncompetitive McLaren, which was also hit with a grid penalty.

They each kept their noses clean through the first turn, Raikkonen more or less holding station in 14th and Alonso dispatching the Manors, Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat and the Sauber of Marcus Ericsson to sit on the Finn's tail into turn two.

A wheel out of line

Braking into turn two, Raikkonen was crowded a little by the two Lotus cars ahead, causing him to put a wheel off the track just past the 50-metre board.

This, and the Lotus car ahead, compromised his exit from the corner, allowing the Force India of Sergio Perez to come by. It also allowed Alonso to close in even more on the back of the Ferrari.

Struggling to get the power down

Raikkonen nevertheless looked in control as he straightened up for the long run down to turn three, but the engine note of his Ferrari told a different tale.

As he accelerated through the gears, his soft Pirelli tyres were struggling for traction, and just before he crossed the DRS activation line the first telltale signs of a loose rear end became evident as Raikkonen turned the wheel sharp left.

A second, more pronounced, correction followed a split second later, at which point the game was up.

A snap correction to the right was the prelude to the car spearing sideways to the left of the circuit and collecting the innocent Alonso.

A lucky escape

The wayward Ferrari smashed into the McLaren, taking both into the barriers at more than 100mph and forcing Raikkonen's car partly under the McLaren.

Fortunately, although the two cars skidded along the barriers with the McLaren on top of the Ferrari, not far in front of Raikkonen's head, both men were unhurt.

'It was a very strange incident'

Not known for his eloquence, it was perhaps to be expected that Raikkonen would not shed too much light on the incident after the race, saying: "I got some wheelspin and then went left, which was unusual so it's hard to say.

"I don't know exactly why it was so aggressive and what caused it, but the end result is always the same.

"It was a pretty odd place. Usually you get wheelspin when you come out of the corner, but obviously it was very far away."

Alonso, understandably as the more innocent party, was much more forthcoming.

"It was obviously quite scary," the Spaniard said. "Kimi started with the prime tyre, which probably didn't help for the level of grip. He exited turn two with a lot of wheelspin so the car was moving.

"We were all overtaking him left and right and, when he lost the car to the left, I was on the left. We went both on the wall and I was lucky to not hit him on the head.

"I was braking but my wheels were in the air. Luckily we were both fine. I was in the wrong place. It was a very strange incident. He lost the car in fifth gear or something like that."

[sagi58]

Lewis Hamilton blames poor start in Austrian GP on faulty clutch

Lewis Hamilton blamed losing the Austrian Grand Prix to team-mate Nico Rosberg on a technical problem with his car's start procedure.

Hamilton started from pole but made a slow start and was passed on the run to the first corner by Rosberg, who dominated the rest of the race.

"I did everything I was supposed to do but the clutch keeps under-performing," Hamilton said.

He said it was "something we need to work on" after a run of poor starts.

The problem started, Hamilton said, after Mercedes made changes to the cars' clutches ahead of last month's Spanish Grand Prix.

The team changed the clutch springs back to the specification they used in 2014 because they gave more reliably consistent starts than the type used in the first four races of this season.

"Since then I have been having bad starts," Hamilton said. "Nico was having bad starts and then they changed everything and now he is having good starts and I am having bad starts. It's just the way it goes."

He added: "It's disappointing when the car just doesn't get off the line fast enough and there is nothing you can do about it on a track like this where you just can't overtake unless you're much faster."

An F1 car's start system uses two clutches - the driver holds both in, sets the revs to a certain level, and then dumps the first clutch and feeds in the second.

The speed of the start is largely out of the driver's control, but he can influence it if his reaction time is slow.

Hamilton said: "I had a problem with the wait revs. I took my foot off the gas and it was still on - like the throttle was still on - and then I dumped the clutch and just (had) lots and lots of wheelspin."

He said he could do nothing to try to pass Rosberg once the race got under way.......

[sagi58]

A pot calling a kettle black comes to mind.

Pastor Maldonado says Max Verstappen went too far in Austrian GP

Lotus Formula 1 driver Pastor Maldonado believes Toro Rosso rival Max Verstappen was not "respecting the rules" in their Austrian Grand Prix battle.

Maldonado, running an alternative strategy, caught and passed Verstappen for seventh late in the Red Bull Ring F1 race.

Asked by AUTOSPORT if he was happy with Verstappen's driving during their close wheel-to-wheel race, Maldonado replied: "He was a bit... let's say not aggressive, but he wasn't really respecting the rules.

"You must leave some space for the other car and he was not respecting that.

"But when I saw him doing this I said I need to be more careful but more aggressive.

"He was a bit on the limit a few times but it's OK.

"If the stewards don't say anything then I say OK, they allowed us to race and that's great."

[sagi58]

And, the response was:

Max Verstappen amused by criticism from F1 rival Pastor Maldonado

Toro Rosso Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen said he was amused when he heard Pastor Maldonado's comments about him following their Austrian Grand Prix battle.

Maldonado said Verstappen was not "respecting the rules" as they fought over seventh place, with the Lotus driver ultimately coming out top.

Verstappen said he hadn't spoken to Maldonado, who has been involved in a number of incidents of his own during his F1 career, other than saying "good job" after Sunday's race.

Regarding Maldonado's comments, the Dutchman told AUTOSPORT: "It's quite funny that Pastor said that.

"It's the only thing I say about it, it's quite funny."