From: The stewards of the meeting
To: The team manager, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
The stewards, having received a report from the Race Director and having met with the drivers and team managers involved, have considered the following matter, determine a breach of the regulations has been committed by the competitor and impose the penalty referred to.
No./driver: 22, Lewis Hamilton
Time: 15:21:33
Facts: Cut the chicane and gained an advantage
Offence: Breach of Article 30.3(a) of the 2008 FIA Formula 1 sporting regulations and Appendix L chapter 4 Article 2 (g) of the International Sporting Code.
Penalty: Drive-through penalty (Article 16.3 (a)), since this is being applied at the end of the race, 25 seconds will be added to the driver’s elapsed race time.
FIA Stewards of the Meeting
Received by: Lewis Hamilton, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
The reality is that had there been a wall at that corner then Hamilton would have braked hard and dropped in behind Raikkonen. Consequently, braking hard would also have meant that Hamilton would drop to a slower than required speed to take the corner, and on exiting Raikkonen would have pulled a good 2-3 car lengths on him. Therefore Hamilton would never have been in a position to pass him at the next corner.
But instead Hamilton didn’t do that, he kept his speed by crossing the track and waited for Raikkonen to catch up where he then was able to duck in to within a foot or two of Kimi’s rear wing, (a place he certainly would not have been had he driven within the rules) and then used the slip stream to pass him at the end of the next corner.
Now feel free to tell me why someone who voluntarily broke the rules, and gained an advantage by doing so, should escape punishment.
Would anyone care to discuss the merits of robbing a bank, and then on realising the police were outside waiting for you, you decide to return the money. According to most on this forum (Hamiltonites/Ferrari haters) you haven’t committed any crime…..lol
Ah, if only there was a wall.
But then again, if there was a nude beautiful blonde somewhere inner side of the curve, they would probably both try to cut the curve much as possible and neither would be pushed out of the track (and into the wall that isn't there anyway). Ah, the possibilities.
How about this one: if there was a wall, Kimi would not push Lewis that much wide because he would know Lewis has no where to go and would have to choose wall or Kimi to crash into - and choice he'd make is kind of obvious as wall is not competing with him, but Kimi is; so Lewis maybe would slow down, but then again maybe not - he can be a Maverick - and Kimi would maybe try to squeeze him by the wall but then again maybe not because Lewis might damage Kimi's car - intensionally or just by bouncing off the wall - and Kimi would loose his precious points (as Kimi is not racing only Lewis, but Massa as well).
We could ad some more ingredients and go on and on and on, but if we stay with the facts, Lewis tried to overtake Kimi by breaking later, Kimi took a bit agressive defensive posture that sent Lewis off the track and gave him advantage. It happens all the time. Lewis in return let Kimi pass him by the full length of the car. I've seen that crap about Lewis cheating there (by keeping momentum and what not) but I don't see how could he do that - he had to slow down in order to let Kimi pass him and for that to happen, at some point Kimi had to accelerate faster than Lewis. That Kimi seemed a bit perplexed and confused and failed to press much as he could in order to keep Lewis back is hardly Lewis' problem.
And one more thing regarding what Lewis/Kimi/Dalai-Lama woud think in such situation... 2 laps before the end of the race, in the heat of fighting for No.1 with your direct competitor for the title, in situation where track condition deteriorates every second - I think that it all boils down to instincts and desire. Did Lewis casually think "hey look, there's a curve without outer wall, I'll push hard and force Kimi to go defensive and push me out so that I can cut the curve, get advantage, then let Kimi overtake me while keeping my momentum (?!?) and get him again!"..? I don't think so. Did Kimi have enough time to coolly analyze situation and come to conclusion "hey, look, there's a curve without outer wall, Lewis will go reckless 'cause he has no wall to fear and I'll push him out so that he gets illegal advantage by cutting curve, but he is smart boy so he'll let me pass him but I'll do that sooo sloppy that he'll easily take on me again and look as if he managed to keep momentum for what our boys in FIA will demote him 25 seconds - easy!"..? I don't think so.
Everyone here knows I don't like Lewis so it is not easy for me to go down this path - but in this case I believe there were no intentions of foul play and, under circumstances that developed during their fight (missing walls and all that jazz), both drivers managed their actions within rules and regulations.
You can have it in any colour - as long as it's black. Or red. Or blue. Or green. Or white. Or navy blue. Or...
