F1 Today – 07/12/2021
Verstappen “over the limit’ of acceptability – Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton has described Max Verstappen’s driving as “over the limit” of acceptability after the title rivals’ latest on-track controversies, and collision, in a heated and chaotic Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Following a race of full of incidents ultimately won by Hamilton, the title contenders were called before stewards to explain a bizarre collision on lap 37 when the Mercedes hit a slowing Red Bull up the back approaching the final corner.
The stewards ruled Verstappen’s “erratic” braking was the “predominant” cause of the accident giving him a ten second time penalty, although it did not change the result of the race. With Hamilton’s win and Verstappen’s second place, it means that they go into Abu Dhabi level on points.
Verstappen had already been handed a five-second penalty during the race for the incident earlier on in lap 37 which led to the call from Race Control for him to let Hamilton move ahead. But, it was just the latest in a series of collisions between the two with Verstappen often accused of being too aggressive in defence and attack, whereas the Dutchman has defended his driving as hard but fair.
He told Sky Sports, “I’ve raced a lot of drivers through my life in the 28 years [of racing] and I’ve come across a lot of different characters and there are a few at the top which are kind of over the limit. Rules kind of don’t apply, or don’t think of the rules.”
Asked if Verstappen fell into that category, Hamilton replied: “He’s over the limit, for sure. I’ve avoided collision on so many occasions with the guy and I don’t always mind being the one that does that because you live to fight another day, which I obviously did.”
In their ruling on the incident, stewards said: “Whilst accepting that the driver of Car 44 [Hamilton] could have overtaken Car 33 [Verstappen] 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.”
Verstappen said after the race, “I was downshifting and braking for him to go by. I don’t understand why…maybe there was some confusion.”
Speaking on his slow-down lap after the race, Verstappen was informed over the radio that he had been voted the driver of the day. He said, “Luckily the fans have a clear mind about racing because what happened today is unbelievable. I just trying to race and this sport lately is more about penalties than racing.”
Verstappen struggling to understand Jeddah penalty
Max Verstappen is struggling to understand why he got penalised for running Lewis Hamilton off the track in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after not being sanctioned for a similar incident in Brazil.
At Interlagos, the Dutchman ran Hamilton wide at Turn Four when he tried to overtake around the outside, but the incident wasn’t investigated as FIA race director Michael Masi decided not to refer the matter to the stewards. This has opened the debate about consistency of stewarding as well as confusion about what the rules are as well as the policing of them.
Sunday’s race was the latest clash between Verstappen and Hamilton, with two incidents on track. The first time the issue was settled with Masi without getting the stewards involved, Red Bull agreed to drop Verstappen to third behind Hamilton for the restart after a red flag.
On the second occasion the Dutchman was handed a five-second penalty for gaining an advantage outside the track, after his first attempt to let Hamilton by led to a collision, and he then immediately repassed Hamilton on the second attempt which also didn’t satisfy the stewards.
The second move, which was punished by the stewards, Verstappen thought was odd explaining that “in Brazil it was fine and now suddenly I get a penalty for it.”
He told Motorsport.com, “Of course, he had the run, a bit like Brazil, and of course I braked late, and I think I got a little bit offline at one point. I had a moment, so I went wide, but he also didn’t make the corner so we both basically missed the corner.”
“I don’t think it’s fair to then just say that I get a penalty but, yeah, it is what it is. I find it interesting that I am the one who gets the penalty when both of us ran outside of the white lines. In Brazil it was fine and now suddenly I get a penalty for it.”
Verstappen also received an additional ten-second penalty for the collision with Hamilton, didn’t want to dwell too much on events in Jeddah, but says it “a shame” that talk about penalties overshadowed the race once again, just as the two title protagonists are heading to the Abu Dhabi season finale on equal points.
Adding “You could clearly see both didn’t make the corner, but it’s fine. I also don’t really spend too much time on it. We have to move forward. We’re equal on points now and I think that’s really exciting, of course, for the whole championship and Formula 1 in general.”
Behind The Headlines – Saudi Arabia
Jeddah only needs fine turning despite drivers concerns
During last weekend’s race in Jeddah, several drivers raised concerns about the safety of the circuit. However, FIA race director Michael Masi anticipates only “fine-tuning” being required ahead of the next event at the track in March.
Many drivers had concerns about the lack of visibility of potential trouble ahead in the many flat out sweeping bends, with some questioning why the circuit design didn’t simply feature more straights.
GPDA director George Russell argued that the fast bends created “unnecessary risks” while not offering a challenge, and others echoed his thoughts.
Esteban Ocon added, “I don’t know what are the limitations on building, because there must be a reason why the straights are turning like this. For us, it’s flat out so it makes no difference. It’s just that it makes it blind and we can’t see if a car is a problem in front or whatever. So, it could be a massive crash.”
Ocon said he liked the first part of the track but added: “All these straights afterwards, that are not straight I think we should make them straight basically.” He says that would make no difference to the track layout as the main corners would still be there.
Lando Norris says he doesn’t know why the street circuit had to be so fast. Saying “You can have the effect of a street circuit and so on, but they need to realise if we’re doing 250/300 km/h, and there’s a wall from here to there away, it’s a bit pointless from my point of view to risk that kind of thing.”
Responding to those claims race director Michael Masi isn’t expecting major changes, but fine tuning may be needed. He added, “I think here in Saudi Arabia they’ve done a brilliant job of putting this amazing facility together in such a short time frame, which is a credit to everyone involved.”
“There is some fine-tuning, that will happen across the board. There were some teething issues being a brand new event, brand new facility, on the whole of things.”
Porsche’s motorsport future could be ‘influenced’ by F1
Porsche says it will decide in the next year whether it will say in Formula E beyond 2023-24, with the decision being ‘influenced’ by a possible entry into Formula One. The manufacturer joined the electric championship in 2019-20 and after Pascal Wehrlein was disqualified in Puebla last season for incorrectly declared tyres, it is yet to win a race.
Since joining the series, its main rival has been Mercedes who have won the last two drivers and teams championships. Porsche’s new vice president of motorsport Thomas Laudenbach – whose appointment followed the departure of Pascal Zurlinden, who was hands on with the FE programme – said it was a “fact” that the team had underperformed so far after finishing eighth in 2021.
Speaking to Motorsport.com, Laudenbach reckoned: “The success wasn’t as good as we expected, or as we wanted to have. That’s a fact. The goal is we want to win races in Formula E, and [that] we are for sure heading for a championship.”
In the past few years, three of its German rivals, Audi, BMW and Mercedes have announced they will leave the series. Porsche meanwhile is committed until the end of the 2023-24 campaign (season 10), the second year of the inbound 470bhp and delta wing-lookalike Gen3 cars.
Laudenbach says the manufacturer would begin to evaluate its case to remain in Formula E beyond this deadline over the coming year. This comes amid speculation that they will enter F1 in 2026, as its parent company Volkswagen has been in recent powertrain discussions with the FIA and existing manufacturers.
As previously reported by Motorsport.com, Laudenbach and Porsche’s interest in F1 is warm. Should Porsche commit to the grand prix grid, Laudenbach said it would “influence” a decision on the future of the Formula E programme.
Laudenbach also said that F1 would not decide its future in Formula E.
Norris calls for change on changing tyres under red flag
Lando Norris has called for the rule that allows drivers to have a free tyre change during a red flag race suspension to be changed, the Briton calling it “unfair”. The McLaren driver was sixth in the early stages of Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, after taking he took advantage of the safety car for Mick Schumacher’s accident to make a pitstop.
He lost more than the drivers ahead who also stopped, dropping back to fourteenth place as cars that opted to stay out jumped him. Norris then lost that tactual advantage when the red flag was shown, giving all the drivers a free pit stop and effectively saw the advantage taken away.
Norris also attempted the same thing at Monza and Mugello last year, and is now asking for the rules to change. He told Motorsport.com, “I’m always on the bad end of it, so it probably sucks more for me than anyone, but I think it’s just a very unfair rule that should be taken away.”
“I think they should change it to one mandatory pitstop with two different tyre sets needed to be used, and then I think that’s acceptable. But this just ruins everything, to be honest. You put so much effort in for it to be taken away for some stupid rule.”
Norris said he had previously discussed the issue with FIA race director Michael Masi in drivers’ briefings. Adding, “I brought it up already when it happened the first time, and when it happened the second time. I can say whatever I need to, or what I want to, or what I believe in, but I don’t write [the rules].”
He however accepted that for viewers it adds extra drama, but from his point of view it ruins whatever you put your effort into. The McLaren driver eventually finished the race in tenth, that followed two similar results and a ninth in the three previous races.
when asked by Motorsport.com about his recent run, Norris said, “It sucks, because I think we deserve a lot more, we’ve done a much better job than shows. Of course I made a couple of mistakes in there, I have to admit that, like in Brazil. Qatar and here we should have scored some good points.”