Senna and Kobay, IMO it was Senna's fault. He must have seen Kobay coming and was just passed on the inside by another car. He should have left room. On a non-street circuit Kobay could've probably still made the pass, but with a wall looming, it was uncalled for.

Hami and Maldonado, IMO Hamilton's fault all the way. His tires were gone and there was no way he was going to make it out of that corner first. We saw side-by-side action in that corner from several other drivers, so no reason Hamilton couldn't have left a bit more room. Kudos to Maldonado for not backing off, IMO - even though it cost him a race finish, I think it will make other drivers think twice about how hard they want to push the issue when he's passing.

Great race overall.

l8r)

 

Well, it appears that the stewards have deemed Kobay caused incident with Massa...five grid slots next race: http://www.pitpass.com/46647-Maldonado-pays-the-penalty...nuts!

Later, Ken

 

This headline: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/100718 appears to B Ferrari's approach to keeping the team focused..."we R just not good enough yet"...and it appears to B working. However, this well will run dry for U can't fool all the team members all of the time.

Later, Ken

 

Under the guise of saving money, FIA is considering banning tire warmers..."to save costs of production and transit" which is rediculous given the team transport costs to four corners of the earth to create "international/world race car event"...the new wrinkle though is what it will do to the Pirelli tires...U guessed it... they will have to B changed if banned...this from Hembery: [Pirelli] "welcome" the ban but warned it "would require a complete change of the composition" of the tyres." The question is will this reset the knowledge of how to deal with these tires...in short, throw out all of last and this years knowledge of Pirelli tires and start from scratch?!..if true, then we will have another 2012 season in 2013...totally unpredictable race season.

Later, Ken

 

By far the best race Valencia has ever put on. The attrition and tire strategy had more to do with than anything, but never the less a great race. Watching Schumi and Weber storm through the field on fresh rubber was awesome. Kamui needs to get his head checked before the next race, both of those incidents were all him IMO.

 

i like hami but i think it was party his fault. he should have drove smarter and try to get championship points. Maldonado have no chance at championship want podium finish when he can get it. he was willing to risk it, hami should have not.

 

^ I would agree with that. He has no one to blame but himself.

 

Bernie E. to jail for 10 years? http://www.autoblog.com/2012/06/25/e...bery-charges/#

 

The way Maldonado was all over the circuit to defend his position, and pass others pretty much the entire race, I really don't know why Whitmarsh wasn't screaming over the radio for Hamilton to make room. They had to know that Maldonado was going to put Hamilton in that position to defend a questionable pass attempt.....and as past history has proven, Hamilton isn't exactly willing to use better judgement either. It was just a recipe for disaster.

 

For once GG I agree...recall this same situation last year on this same track with Kobay catching Alonso whose tires had also gone...what did Alonso do when being caught?...try to defend a position he could not hold?...no, he let Kobay pass...this is what U expect from a seasoned driver...what Hami did was worse than a rookie...even Whitmarsh in a guarded statement agreed: “With hindsight you have to say if you are dealing with someone like that [Maldonado] then you maybe have to take a different approach,”...we don't NO what he said, if anything, to Hami before the incident but based upon his post race statement, it fell upon deaf ears...an old saying comes to mind and Hami, listen up: "NO when to hold em, NO when to fold em".

Later, Ken

 

Agreed. Hamilton's tires were gone and everyone knows how aggressive Maldonado can be. After the contretemps between them, the Speed announcers felt that it was Lewis' fault. Lewis should have done like Alonso in the last race and just let the others by and try and still get some points.

 

Rules of racing:
1. When racing it is the over takers responsibility to make a clean pass.
2. Who ever has the inside line has ownership of the line. The outside car HAS to give way by either going off track or slowing down in the turn as the inside car goes wide during corner exit.
3. If off track, the car entering has to make a clean entrance on to the track.

IMHO, that's why its mainly Mc-Donald-O's fault.

I know Hami was also partly to blame but this is racing. Its a gray area where a racing driver is doing his best to defend a position or making it easy to pass for the over taker. On the one hand you want him to make it as hard as possible for the other driver to pass, other other hand you don't want him to drive dirty.

This is good news, right?

 

^ I am sure The Weasel will weasel out of jail time somehow. Yes, it would be good news, but I am not going to hold my breath. It looks like Briatore is being groomed to replace Bernie someday, which would mean another scallywag on the scene.

 

Got to disagree here...Hami was a siting duck...he had no rubber relative to Maldonado's...so the wise move, the proffesional move was to let him pass and take 3rd place. Trying to protect UR position w/o the rubber to do it is probably going to end in a collision...and if it is Maldonado, it is a certainty...I expected Hami to do the right thing and Maldonado to run like a guy in a sailboat crossing in front of a super tanker just before impact yelling "Right of way!"

Later, Ken

 

Not that I'm a big fan of Briatore but honestly anything is better than Bernie...