Nice Rosberg.. Deliberate?

[LTD]

The FIA need to step in and ban Rosberg if the allegations are true to nip this in the bud.

A three race ban would suffice and teach both Rosberg and Mercedes a lesson.

It has to come from above and not Mercedes themselves in order for the sport to retain a little credibility.

 

[Dieselman]

The FIA need to step in and ban Rosberg if the allegations are true to nip this in the bud.

A three race ban would suffice and teach both Rosberg and Mercedes a lesson.

It has to come from above and not Mercedes themselves in order for the sport to retain a little credibility.

There has to be some sense of justice in team-mates taking each other out. The team and drivers both lose points.

If a driver took another team member out, the FIA would get shirty, but why bother if it's the same team.

 

[John Jones Jr]

Getting the Mercedes driver boo'd on the podium will have really stung. They are going to win the driver's championship and constructor's championship but lose the PR.

If Merc are talking about a real punishment rather than a slap on the wrist, I don't see what other options they have. Financial is pointless. They can't fudge the cars. I'm sure it has been done in the past.

I understand your point, but in all honesty when did a team ever suspend a driver, never mind a potential WC? If teams were willing to take that type of action, literally dozens of F1 drivers down the years would have been suspended.
As someone mentioned earlier, Prost & Senna springs to mind, even if we get a mild version of that for the next seven (?) races, it should become very interesting racing.

 

[Dieselman]

.
As someone mentioned earlier, Prost & Senna springs to mind, even if we get a mild version of that for the next seven (?) races, it should become very interesting racing.

Couldn't agree more. F1 is too safe and sterile.

 

[John Jones Jr]

F1 is too safe and sterile.

Without a shadow of doubt. Even Eddie Jordan says, it's got to the stage now that cars are actually far easier to drive too.

 

[grober]

Judge for yourself BBC Sport - Belgian Grand Prix as it happened
I see it as a racing incident with a misjudgement by Rosberg. There's barely a Grand Prix where this thing doesn't happen between 2 drivers jostling for track position whether its at the front or further down the field. Sure Rosberg and Hamilton are rivals in the same team but had it happened [ and it does----- frequently ] further down the field between two different teams it would have merited a bit of tut -tuting in the race commentary and promptly forgotten. Another part of the problem is vulnerability of the car's design with these elaborate frontal wing structures and tyre walls easily damaged by essentially minor collisions. Did Rosberg really mean to take Hamilton out at the risk of damaging his own car -- I seriously doubt it. In a post mortem team conference rather than admit he was an idiot and made a huge mistake and "eat crow" in front of his arch rival would he rather come the hard man adopt a defiant stance and say he did it deliberately- quite possibly. Mercedes anger on this occasion comes from the fact both cars might have been eliminated but what do they expect? Its a competitive sport from the moment the lights go out.

 

[LTD]

There has to be some sense of justice in team-mates taking each other out. The team and drivers both lose points.

If a driver took another team member out, the FIA would get shirty, but why bother if it's the same team.

I think that Rosberg, if found guilty of the accusation, should be found guilty of bringing the sport into disrepute.

I doubt that the team would be considered culpable unless there are darker forces at work to ensure that Mercedes do not have a black World Champion in their publicity photographs instead of an Aryan .......

 

[Dieselman]

I think that Rosberg, if found guilty of the accusation, should be found guilty of bringing the sport into disrepute.

I doubt that the team would be considered culpable unless there are darker forces at work to ensure that Mercedes do not have a black World Champion in their publicity photographs instead of an Arian .......

WOW, that's some conspiracy theory you have going on there.

Hamilton has already been World Champion...in a Mercedes.

 

[LTD]

WOW, that's some conspiracy theory you have going on there.

Hamilton has already been World Champion...in a Mercedes.

Was it not an British car powered by an German engine that Lewis Hamilton became World Champion in ?

 

[John Jones Jr]

Did Rosberg really mean to take Hamilton out at the risk of damaging his own car -- I seriously doubt it.

Agree.

 

[John Jones Jr]

I doubt that the team would be considered culpable unless there are darker forces at work to ensure that Mercedes do not have a black World Champion in their publicity photographs instead of an Aryan .......

Really...and here's me thinking F1 is truly a global sport. Maybe, M-B would be happier that only Aryan's or white folk buy their products too...yeah right!

 

[LTD]

doubt - unless ?

Please read the post that I made.

I do not think there were team orders.

 

[John Jones Jr]

doubt - unless ?

Please read the post that I made.

I do not think there were team orders.

I did read your post, indeed I did. ''Darker forces, Ayrans's...'' Get a grip!

 

[paneraiseeker]

Lets face the facts......If daddy's boy wins the championship its not because he is the better driver.Its because Hamilton has had bad luck on the track.

Personally 7 races to go, give Hamilton a trouble free car and he will win.

 

[gunning]

Thing is I think Hamilton is a good driver but he has a serious attitude problem. The issue is obviously with him, Alonso couldn't stand him, button had issues with him and now rosburg? In terms of yesterday's incident, it's not exactly a massive crash, Hamilton could of sucked it up and drove hard till the end, but he's acts like a spoilt kid refusing to drive hard because somebody gave him a puncture, he's paid millions to do it, it's not an option to throw your toys out of the pram.

I am a tad anti Hamilton these days so it's just my opinion at the end of the day.

 

[Terry_]

Thing is I think Hamilton is a good driver but he has a serious attitude problem. The issue is obviously with him, Alonso couldn't stand him, button had issues with him and now rosburg? In terms of yesterday's incident, it's not exactly a massive crash, Hamilton could of sucked it up and drove hard till the end, but he's acts like a spoilt kid refusing to drive hard because somebody gave him a puncture, he's paid millions to do it, it's not an option to throw your toys out of the pram.

I am a tad anti Hamilton these days so it's just my opinion at the end of the day.

It was pointless him carrying on. His car was damaged and he couldn't catch / overtake anyone.
No point in ragging the engine to get nowhere

 

[John Jones Jr]

Thing is I think Hamilton is a good driver but he has a serious attitude problem. The issue is obviously with him, Alonso couldn't stand him, button had issues with him and now rosburg? In terms of yesterday's incident, it's not exactly a massive crash, Hamilton could of sucked it up and drove hard till the end, but he's acts like a spoilt kid refusing to drive hard because somebody gave him a puncture, he's paid millions to do it, it's not an option to throw your toys out of the pram.

I am a tad anti Hamilton these days so it's just my opinion at the end of the day.

I wouldn't disagree with any of the above and I do get the impression this crop of drivers are all wrapped up in cotton wool and worse, expect to be.
The cars have never been safer, the tracks too, they're slower and seemingly easier to drive. Maybe it's time for some of these drivers to 'man up' and just get on with the job and not let a racing incident between team mates become the focus of a race (after all neither are Post or Senna), and in the process almost ignoring Ricciardo's brilliant win, again leaving his team mate & current champ for dust.

 

[grober]

I would dearly like to have been a fly on the wall at that Mercedes meeting.
e.g.
"He said he could have avoided it, but he didn't want to," said Hamilton. after meeting with Rosberg and Mercedes bosses Toto Wolff and Paddy Lowe. "He basically said, 'I did it to prove a point."
Wolff later claimed Rosberg's remarks had been misinterpreted.
"Nico felt he needed to hold his line," said Wolff. "He needed to make a point. He didn't give in. He thought it was for Lewis to leave him space and that Lewis didn't leave him space.
"For Lewis, it was clearly not him who needed to be aware of Nico.
"So they agreed to disagree in a very heated discussion among ourselves, but it wasn't deliberately crashing. That is nonsense."
Wolff had already blamed Rosberg for the collision and indicated that Mercedes could take internal disciplinary action.

So who is playing politics here----My feeling is that Roseberg's response was at least honest if perhaps naive. Hamilton's telling the press afterwards his interpretation of what was said "verbatim" perhaps more calculated.
Mercedes Toto Wolff has done his best to smooth things over as damage limitation.
However while Roseberg is meantime on the naughty step with Mercedes, if points are taken from Rosberg's championship in the form of a disqualification or ban because of Hamilton's revelation [post team meeting] Hamilton won't be flavour of the month at Mercedes either.
Fathers with 2 squabbling teenagers will know exactly I mean.
It places the FIA in an awkward position if a driver admits deliberately putting another off the track. However in this instance following discussions with the team they may feel it best to leave it as an internal disciplinary matter.

 

[cb1965]

Do some of the people commenting on this thread actually follow F1 with any degree of proper interest? All this it's too sanitised and safe now... well do we really want it to be more dangerous?

As for them being easy to drive most of you wouldn't get an F1 car out of the pits let alone round a lap and even if you did you certainly wouldn't get a decent lap time and that is before you go racing with other cars.... but then you say it's all so easy... hmmmm!!

As for Lewis, well I don't think he is many more or less popular than any other F1 driver with his contemporaries. They are all very driven people and as such not exactly going to be popular with each other as teammates. For instance Button has had issues with every teammate he has had yet seems to be an extremely pleasant and nice guy when interviewed.

As far as yesterday goes the situation is now untenable between the two drivers and is not recoverable. Mercedes missed the chance to nip this in the bud by ignoring the aftermath of both Monaco and Hungary. Now they can either impose a penalty on Rosberg such as a one race ban (I don't think they will btw) which will even the championship out, but will leave Rosberg with an even bigger 'point to prove' (and we have seen what happens then) or they can give him a slap on the wrist which will leave Hamilton aggrieved over the 'unfairness' of it all and like Senna I feel this will eventually boil over... let's hope it's not at a point where lives get put in danger.

Anyone who thinks I am being melodramatic needs only to look at the story of Prost/Senna or more pointedly Pironi and Villeneuve the latter of whom died in circumstances that were never fully explained, but were believed to be as a result of him trying to hard to beat Pironi who had allegedly reneged on an agreement between the two at the previous race.

World class racing drivers are incredibly driven people and do not see things in the cold light of day as many of us would. Winning is everything and being treated unfairly by a team or a teammate is something that festers inside them until they eventually feel compelled to 'do something' about it.

 

[cb1965]

It was pointless him carrying on. His car was damaged and he couldn't catch / overtake anyone.
No point in ragging the engine to get nowhere

Exactly especially as the gearbox and engine regulations state only a set number may be used all season.