With regards to lewis & maldonado...Hami's tires were shot & another bone head decision & a prime example on why Hami doesnt have more championships...

lets reflect back to canada:

alonso with shot tires near the end of the race: walked away with 10 points & his head hung low....

Valencia:

Lewis with shot tires near the end of the race: walked away with ZERO points & his head hung low....

Oh yeah, dont forget about a damaged car Im certain his crew hasnt forgotten.

 

^ but Hami thought he could hold Maldo off for just one more lap. Alonso had more than 10 laps to finish the race and knew the odds weren't good. i still agree that's Hami didn't think it through. he's always been some what a hot head but he makes it exciting because he takes risks.

 

U R right about Hami but I would say more stubborn than a hot head. Now to UR point, and, yes, I am flogging a dead horse...When one takes a risky move there has to B the possibility of pulling it off. In this case, there was little probability that Hami could hold Maldenado off given his tires, so the only reasonable,again, proffesional alternative, IMHO, was to let him through.

Later, Ken

 

^ after looking at the video again, i'm thinking that it's less of hami's fault and more Maldo. and obviously the stewards felt the same way and gave maldo the penalty. but hami got the bigger penalty and lost a potential podium finish

i don't race wheel to wheel, but i do race Time Trials/Time Attack and run in the advance group. the passer is always responsible for making a safe and clean pass. the guy in front will most likely have the race line, so the passer will have to go off line to make the pass.

looking at the video again. you can clearly see that maldo went wide and completely 4 wheel off. then he comes back on track at which point he hit hami. maldo should have know that there's no way he can make that turn after going wide. he should have short cut the turn and cut in front of hami, then give back the position, or back off and get back on track behind hami. his tires were fresher and he could have over taken hami at a different spot.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/18573966

 

^This! Fresher tires or not Hamilton has every right to fight for his position. This is F1 racing, not some amateur weekend gentleman's race. Nothing disappoints me more than seeing F1 drivers not fight for their position in the race. Hamilton makes the races exciting! Was the risk higher? Yes, but the payoff was also higher.

 

I applaud both of your posts. During the race, I thought maybe Lewis should have let him by. But after reviewing things and so close to the end of the race, I feel Lewis did the right thing. As so well said, this is F1 and it is expected that people will take risks to secure a win or better position. At least all the drivers now know that Maldonado will do a boneheaded move to get by.

 

Yes, I agree Maldenado was at fault from a racing point of view and caused the accident...no argument, never questioned that point...but there is more to racing than just adhering to the rules...rather, in Hami's case, cutting UR loses to a minimum and moving on which is consistent with UR words: "but Hami got the bigger penalty and lost a potential podium finish" ...there is little likelyhood Hami could have defended his position even with one lap to go given how fast Maldenado caught him...one may admire his attempt to do so ...but his "fighting spirit" at this point in the race was missplaced... too much of, "I'll never give up!" rather than "I'm a sitting duck with these tires and there is nothing I can do to prevent him getting by me and ...ohhh...it's Maldenado". In short, he did not use his head at this point, rather his emotions and this why Hami has not won more than he has...Maldenado is driving like an idiot..."I have a fast car, get out of my way"...his biggest problem is understanding the word, patience...perhaps with time and some listening to more mature drivers/advisors, he will mature but for now he has taken over for Petrov when he drove for Lotus...an out of control unguided missle.

Later, Ken

 

People say that hindsight is 20-20. Shoulda, coulda, woulda. Doesn't change anything. None of us are in a position to dictate what an F1 driver should do, especially one of Lewis' caliber. On TV, it looks so simple, but in the cockpit, the perspective is different.

 

It wasn't hindsight for me. Like I said, I was screaming at the tv for at least a minute or two for Hamilton to play it safe, and not even think about defending a pass attempt by Maldonado. He's been there, done that, enough times with Maldonado in the last couple of seasons that he should be able to know where that was going to lead. I may not have the experience, skill, knowledge, etc. about racing that a guy like Hamilton does, but it was common sense to me that Hamilton should be more than aware that Maldonado was going to attempt to make a pass attempt when and/or where he shouldn't be trying it, and as stated before, I'm amazed that Whitmarsh wasn't all over it too. I'm all for Hamilton defending his position, but he has to know that a faster Maldonado is just as likely to wreck him, as he is to make a clean pass, in the process.

 

Actually, it is has only been this year that Maldonado has even been in a position to challenge the front of the field. I am not sure what Team McLaren was telling Lewis regarding Maldonado. I know that we can all talk about common sense, but these types of things happen in a split second and unless you are in the cockpit, it is hard to really be judgemental of Lewis. Lewis is what he is. He is a hard charger like Vettel and Kimi and Alonso. Sometimes their risks pay off and sometimes they don't.

 

Amen!

Later, Ken

 

Amazing how sitting on a sofa with a remote and beverage in hand can make you a world champion F1 driver....

 

I still can't believe Maldonado got penalized for that tangle with Hamilton in Valencia. What was he supposed to do when he was pushed off track - stop and wait till Hamilton is gone? At what point does this become a procession and not a race? I thought the reg was for cars being passed to leave one width space.

 

Lewis should have just let him by plain and simple... Maldo was gonna get by no matter what, just let him go and try to manage the gap to the next driver behind. If he had done that he wouldn't have lost all his points. Even NASCAR drivers can figure that ish out...

 

The only reason maldonado went off track, was due to hami pushing him wide, over the curb when they were virtually wheel to wheel.

Hami knew where maldonado was for both corners & hami got paul tracey's chrome-horn by maldonado.

Im a long time hami fan.... it's these poor decisions which have prevented him from having more championships.

yeah, in the end, maldonado fck'd himself & hami + he should have just tucked in behind him & give it another go.

in all honesty, maldonado easily had 4 more passing opportunities before the checker flag.