- 10 Jun 19, 00:10#445679
Finally we had a close competition with the two main protagonists going at it.
Then Vettel made a mistake, came back on the track and Hamilton had to brake and avoid a collision.
The race stewards imposed a five second time penalty that pretty much wrapped up the race.
Lewis took the win finishing within five seconds of Vettel. Vettel was peeved to say the least. He said he was unable to keep the car off the racing line and called out the race stewards. He thought the penalty was unfair.
So let's think about this.
If the track limit had been a wall, Vettel would have crashed and DNF'd.
If the outside of the track had been high grip asphalt then it would have been like "short cutting" the chicane at the end of the tunnel in Monaco. Usually, if the driver was ahead, the driver is not penalized if he gives up the position. If he short cuts the chicane and gains a position he has to give it back.
We can debate all day long about whether Vettel may or may not have been able to control the car and stay off the racing line, but I can tell you that the racer's instinct is to make the car real wide and try and not lose a spot. (No that I would ever do that mind you).
But I hated the steward's penalty.
I would have told the team that they had the choice of telling the Ferrari team that they had a choice:
Give Hamilton the position OR take the 5 second penalty.
Ferrari almost certainly would have taken the option of giving up the position.....And then we would have seen a battle to the end. I don't know how that would have turned out. but I would have loved to see the battle.
Hamilton was obviously weak out of the hairpin, (No idea why), and Vettel was super fast down the long straight to the chicane. I think my money would have been on Vettel reclaiming the lead.
Race verdict: Room for improvement by the Stewards.
ActionJackson
Spec Racer Ford #8
Then Vettel made a mistake, came back on the track and Hamilton had to brake and avoid a collision.
The race stewards imposed a five second time penalty that pretty much wrapped up the race.
Lewis took the win finishing within five seconds of Vettel. Vettel was peeved to say the least. He said he was unable to keep the car off the racing line and called out the race stewards. He thought the penalty was unfair.
So let's think about this.
If the track limit had been a wall, Vettel would have crashed and DNF'd.
If the outside of the track had been high grip asphalt then it would have been like "short cutting" the chicane at the end of the tunnel in Monaco. Usually, if the driver was ahead, the driver is not penalized if he gives up the position. If he short cuts the chicane and gains a position he has to give it back.
We can debate all day long about whether Vettel may or may not have been able to control the car and stay off the racing line, but I can tell you that the racer's instinct is to make the car real wide and try and not lose a spot. (No that I would ever do that mind you).
But I hated the steward's penalty.
I would have told the team that they had the choice of telling the Ferrari team that they had a choice:
Give Hamilton the position OR take the 5 second penalty.
Ferrari almost certainly would have taken the option of giving up the position.....And then we would have seen a battle to the end. I don't know how that would have turned out. but I would have loved to see the battle.
Hamilton was obviously weak out of the hairpin, (No idea why), and Vettel was super fast down the long straight to the chicane. I think my money would have been on Vettel reclaiming the lead.
Race verdict: Room for improvement by the Stewards.
ActionJackson
Spec Racer Ford #8