2021 FORMULA 1 STC SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX - LIVE THREAD

12-2-2021 | chode

[Chode]

Jeddah Corniche Circuit

First Grand Prix

2021

Number of Laps

50

Circuit Length

6.174km

Race Distance

308.45 km

Lap Record

null null (null)

[mabarker1]

And the stewed tomatoes are in a post race meeting of the mindless.

[Yo-Yo]

Not a Hamilton fan, but in my opinion, Max is a dirty driver. He seems to be getting worse.

I wouldn't call Max a 'dirty driver,' because that to me implies that what he does on track is intentionally calculated to wreck his opponents.

When he first came onto the F1 scene, he was 18 and constantly took reckless chances throwing his car into corners with extremely late braking, hoping to make it around the corner, and in the process he took out a lot of cars.

Max has matured over the years, but he still reverts to the "shove my car in the half-gap and see what happens" mode when pressed.

How many times this season has Max gone completely off-track because he overcooked a corner, and half the time pushed Hambone off with him?

Max is a brilliant driver, but even without the penalties and lead give-backs, Max's medium tires went off with 5 laps to go, while Hamilton was still setting fastest laps. Hamilton would have probably overtaken him, or Max would have crashed them both out of the race had the penalties not been assessed.

[jps098]

Agreed, but your last sentence is key; "or Max would have crashed them both out of the race had the penalties not been assessed." He seems to not care that his "shove my car" attitude can ruin another driver's race.

[Lockbox]

This race was a mess, very confusing. Is F1 becoming the new WWE?

[Yo-Yo]

Post race, Verstappen is slapped with a 10 second penalty for causing the contact between him and Hamilton while attempting to give back a position to Hamilton.

From Autosport.com:

Full FIA stewards' verdict on Verstappen's Saudi GP F1 penalty

Dec 5, 2021, 5:58 PM

The FIA stewards have handed Red Bull's Max Verstappen a 10-second penalty for his role in the collision with Lewis Hamilton at the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Read the full verdict below.

The Stewards, having received a report from the Race Director, summoned (documents 39 & 40) and heard from the drivers and team representatives, have considered the following matter and determine the following:

No / Driver 33 - Max Verstappen

Competitor Red Bull Racing Honda

Time 22:19

Session Race

Fact Car 33 braked in a manner which caused a collision with Car 44 in turn 26.

Offence Breach of Article 2 (e) Chapter IV Appendix L of the FIA International Sporting Code.

Decision 10 second time penalty imposed after the race (10 seconds added to elapsed race time).

2 penalty points (total of 7 for the 12 month period).

Reason The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 33 (Max Verstappen), the driver of car 44 (Lewis Hamilton) and team representative, reviewed the video and telemetry evidence and determined that the driver of Car 33 was predominantly at fault.

At turn 21 the driver of car 33 was given the instruction to give back a position to car 44 and was told by the team to do so “strategically”. Car 33 slowed significantly at turn 26. However, it was obvious that neither driver wanted to take the lead prior to DRS detection line 3.

The driver of Car 33 stated that he was wondering why Car 44 had not overtaken and the driver of Car 44 stated that, not having been aware at that stage that Car 33 was giving the position back, was unaware of the reason Car 33 was slowing. In deciding to penalise the driver of Car 33, the key point for the Stewards was that the driver of Car 33 then braked suddenly (69 bar) and significantly, resulting in 2.4g deceleration. Whilst accepting that the driver of Car 44 could have overtaken Car 33 when that car first slowed, we understand why he (and the driver of Car 33) did not wish to be the first to cross the DRS.

However, the sudden braking by the driver of Car 33 was determined by the Stewards to be erratic and hence the predominant cause of the collision and hence the standard penalty of 10 seconds for this type of incident, is imposed.

Competitors are reminded that they have the right to appeal certain decisions of the Stewards, in accordance with Article 15 of the FIA International Sporting Code and Chapter 4 of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules, within the applicable time limits.

[Chode]

Pos

No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/Retired	PTS
	1	44	Lewis Hamilton HAM	Mercedes	50	2:06:15.118	26
	2	33	Max Verstappen VER	Red Bull Racing Honda	50	+21.825s	18
	3	77	Valtteri Bottas BOT	Mercedes	50	+27.531s	15
	4	31	Esteban Ocon OCO	Alpine Renault	50	+27.633s	12
	5	3	Daniel Ricciardo RIC	McLaren Mercedes	50	+40.121s	10
	6	10	Pierre Gasly GAS	AlphaTauri Honda	50	+41.613s	8
	7	16	Charles Leclerc LEC	Ferrari	50	+44.475s	6
	8	55	Carlos Sainz SAI	Ferrari	50	+46.606s	4
	9	99	Antonio Giovinazzi GIO	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	50	+58.505s	2
	10	4	Lando Norris NOR	McLaren Mercedes	50	+61.358s	1
	11	18	Lance Stroll STR	Aston Martin Mercedes	50	+77.212s	0
	12	6	Nicholas Latifi LAT	Williams Mercedes	50	+83.249s	0
	13	14	Fernando Alonso ALO	Alpine Renault	49	+1 lap	0
	14	22	Yuki Tsunoda TSU	AlphaTauri Honda	49	+1 lap	0
	15	7	Kimi Räikkönen RAI	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	49	+1 lap	0
	NC	5	Sebastian Vettel VET	Aston Martin Mercedes	44	DNF	0
	NC	11	Sergio Perez PER	Red Bull Racing Honda	14	DNF	0
	NC	9	Nikita Mazepin MAZ	Haas Ferrari	14	DNF	0
	NC	63	George Russell RUS	Williams Mercedes	14	DNF	0
	NC	47	Mick Schumacher MSC	Haas Ferrari	8	DNF	0

[Chode]

surreal, simply surreal...

[SmokingJoe]

These so called “stewards” and race directors had better just stop the races and hand the championship to Hamilton.
F1 is becoming more of a joke by the minute.

[SmokingJoe]

Worse than WWE.

[mabarker1]

accepting that the driver of Car 44 could have overtaken Car 33 when that car first slowed, we understand why he (and the driver of Car 33) did not wish to be the first to cross the DRS.

What’s the big whoop about the DRS [Hence forth to be referred to “The Flapper Doodle”] line got to do with the price of clag in the Sea of Tranquility ???

Is there something I should know about The Flapper-Doodle line ?

The Stewed Tomatoes and the Racial Director need to “Esplain it to Me, Lucy ?”

[Yo-Yo]

What’s the big whoop about the DRS [Hence forth to be referred to “The Flapper Doodle”] line got to do with the price of clag in the Sea of Tranquility ???

Is there something I should know about The Flapper-Doodle line ?

The Stewed Tomatoes and the Racial Director need to “Esplain it to Me, Lucy ?”

Lucy, you got some 'splain' to do.

On this track there are three Flapper Doodle detection zones, and if you trail the car in front of you by 1 second or less, then you get to use your Flapper Doodle on the next long straight, which reduces drag and gives you about a 15 MPH advantage over the car in front, making it easier to pass.

Verstappen had to give back the place to Hamilton, but wanted to do so prior to the DRS detection zone, so that when they both crossed that line Hamilton would be in front, Verstappen would be less than one second behind, and Verstappen would get to use his Flapper Doodle on the next long straight and be able to retake the spot he just had to give away.

Clear as mud?

[Lockbox]

I like the talk about banning the practice, problem is there is always an up coming DRS line. So now we get into how close or far away from the DRS line a give back zone would be created. Do the drivers carry a ruler or are there more lines painted?

Just let the drivers race, stop the Robert’s Rule of Racing type rule book….. we saw enough with Lewis holding up the restart because it was not considered a ‘start’ with the 10 car lengths rule but a restart after a red flag event which has no 10 car length rule if on a Tuesday and not on Thursday…..

[mabarker1]

Ok, I knew about the 1.0 second and Speed/HP stuff and now I understand the “you first/me first” part. Thank You !

And that reminds Me....

Start at 18 second mark, if You Please.🦫

[Chode]

he want the ham to pass so he could use the DRS to take the position back...