From: geoff@nospamgeoffwood.org   
      
   On 7/08/2025 2:37 am, Mark wrote:   
   > Carl Keehn  wrote:   
   >> On 8/3/2025 11:46 PM, Geoff wrote:   
   >>> No penalty for VER - what a surprise after being let off by Ferrari.   
   >>>   
   >>> " The team representative of Car 44 confirmed that there was no contact   
   >>> between both cars and further stated that the driver of Car 44 chose not   
   >>> to attempt to remain on track."   
   >>>   
   >>> WTF ?!!!  HAM chose to avoid being hit by VER !   
   >>   
   >> I believe that Anthony Davidson summed it up best (only because he   
   >> agreed with my judgment).   
   >>   
   >> Clearly, Max Verstappen was at fault.  FIA regulations state that on an   
   >> overtake, if the front wheel of the overtaking car is even to the mirror   
   >> of the leading car, he has a right to the corner.   
   >>   
   >> If the overtaking car is not even to the mirror, he has to yield to the   
   >> leading driver.  Max's front wheels were not that far advanced, he did   
   >> not have the right to the corner.  Lewis Hamilton "chose" to not contest   
   >> the corner.  He was in 12th place and nothing would change that.  Why   
   >> chance damaging or wrecking your car on a pointless corner.   
   >>   
   >> It showed maturity on Lewis part.  He weighed the potential gains, he   
   >> weighed the potential consequences and they did'nt balance out.   
   >   
   > I agree with that. What I /don't/ understand is the stewards. The   
   > application of rules - where evidence like this exist - should be   
   > regardless of whether Hamilton is there or not. Yes, it means that there   
   > are certain bits of evidence that won't be challenged in the same way   
   > without a driver complainant, but to say that his absence means that we   
   > can disregard any rule breaking by Verstappen makes a farce of the   
   > process.   
   >   
   > Not only does this kind of ruling mean that the rules are even less   
   > uniformly applied, but also that precedents are set which everyone has   
   > to live by...which you can bet Red Bull will refer back to in future   
   > incidents.   
   >   
   > I remember the thing I disliked in the 80s with Senna and later with   
   > Schumacher was not the occasions when their (fantastic) aggressive   
   > driving styles led to incidents - they often had to live with   
   > consequences there - but rather how often they benefited from people   
   > "jumping out of the way" to /avoid/ incidents. That gave them an   
   > advantage which was nothing to do with their driving talent, but instead   
   > was a reflection of their lack of fear of any consequences to their   
   > aggression.   
   >   
   > Verstappen has always had an aggressive driving style - particularly   
   > when on the back foot - and the only curb on that was application of   
   > penalties. He benefited massively from this in the past...but had calmed   
   > things down. You can see that now he's not leading the WDC and WCC the   
   > more aggressive side has come back, and it needs to be addressed or some   
   > of Verstappen's worst behaviours will be back for good.   
      
      
   Yes, clearly it is now OK to pull that kind of maneuver with impunity !   
      
   --   
   geoff   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)