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Author Topic: Rosberg's fault - and it was dangerous!  (Read 9899 times)

Offline Monty

Rosberg's fault - and it was dangerous!
« on: May 16, 2016, 10:02:33 AM »
With my ex-racing drivers perspective (I can just about remember that far back!) as soon as I saw Rosberg's harvesting light come on I thought this is Hamilton's chance. When Rosberg forced Hamilton onto the grass I thought that Rosberg must have assumed Hamilton was going left or that he hadn't seen him - a clumsy racing incident.
Then I saw the interview with Rosberg - "I was in the wrong engine mode, I saw him coming and closed the door". To me that was almost an admission of attempted murder! When another driver is coming past you at a speed more than 20kph faster than you - you do not 'close the door'! The rules say you have to leave room of at least one car's width. It would be bad to force a competitor onto the grass but your own team mate! Unforgiveable.



Offline Ian

Re: Rosberg's fault - and it was dangerous!
« Reply #1 on: May 16, 2016, 10:26:00 AM »
Stewards have deemed it as a 'racing incident.'
An aircraft landing is just a controlled crash.

Offline J.Clark

Re: Rosberg's fault - and it was dangerous!
« Reply #2 on: May 16, 2016, 11:30:06 AM »
I will go with the stewards first of all.

I disagree however that Nico caused it.  He made a move to the right and only one move, as Lewis closed in - he didn't fake a move to the left and then go right.  That says Lewis must have thought one of two things:  a) that Nico was faking right and would go left,  or  b) that Nico would leave him room enough, which no racing driver would do.  I blame is to be placed anywhere, it should fall completely on Lewis' shoulders, and Lewis knew it as he slid to a stop in the gravel with his face buried in his hands.
Life is short - live each day to the fullest.

Offline Monty

Re: Rosberg's fault - and it was dangerous!
« Reply #3 on: May 16, 2016, 11:37:37 AM »
two points
1. he admitted on live TV that he deliberately closed the door
2. the rules say you must leave room of 1 car's width - he didn't

Before seeing his interview I accepted 'racing incident'.
However, if you have watched the interview you surely have to agree that he said, without hesitation, that he saw Hamilton coming and deliberately moved right to 'close the door'. In my opinion that isn't only poor sportsmanship, it is dangerous.

Offline Monty

Re: Rosberg's fault - and it was dangerous!
« Reply #4 on: May 16, 2016, 11:47:26 AM »
Not as clear as the actual interview but this summarises the facts fairly well:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/36297948

Offline Irisado

Re: Rosberg's fault - and it was dangerous!
« Reply #5 on: May 16, 2016, 02:07:07 PM »
I'm comfortable with the decision taken by the stewards.  I would say that Rosberg was slightly more responsible for the incident than Hamilton, but, at the same time, it was the first lap, so Hamilton was being a touch ambitious too early on.
Soñando con una playa donde brilla el sol, un arco iris ilumina el cielo, y el mar espejea iridescentemente

Offline J.Clark

Re: Rosberg's fault - and it was dangerous!
« Reply #6 on: May 16, 2016, 02:07:28 PM »
two points
1. he admitted on live TV that he deliberately closed the door
2. the rules say you must leave room of 1 car's width - he didn't

Before seeing his interview I accepted 'racing incident'.
However, if you have watched the interview you surely have to agree that he said, without hesitation, that he saw Hamilton coming and deliberately moved right to 'close the door'. In my opinion that isn't only poor sportsmanship, it is dangerous.
"Closing the door" is not against any rule to the best of my knowledge.
Leaving room of a car width applies when a car is along side. 

The closest Hamilton got to alongside was when he already had a wheel in the grass, still gaining ground on Rosberg, as his left front wheel got even with Rosberg's right rear wheel.


Harvesting or not, Rosberg did nothing really outside the rules.  Lewis was just a bit too aggressive, and got caught out.

I still say it is a racing incident with nobody really to blame.
Life is short - live each day to the fullest.

Offline cosworth151

Re: Rosberg's fault - and it was dangerous!
« Reply #7 on: May 16, 2016, 02:41:31 PM »
Outstanding commentary. A good catch by Ant about the switch. I remember thinking at the time that Nico was trying the old "Schumacher Chop."
“You can search the world over for the finer things, but you won't find a match for the American road and the creatures that live on it.”
― Bob Dylan

Offline Jericoke

Re: Rosberg's fault - and it was dangerous!
« Reply #8 on: May 16, 2016, 02:49:56 PM »
I will go with the stewards first of all.

I disagree however that Nico caused it.  He made a move to the right and only one move, as Lewis closed in - he didn't fake a move to the left and then go right.  That says Lewis must have thought one of two things:  a) that Nico was faking right and would go left,  or  b) that Nico would leave him room enough, which no racing driver would do.  I blame is to be placed anywhere, it should fall completely on Lewis' shoulders, and Lewis knew it as he slid to a stop in the gravel with his face buried in his hands.

I'm with you on this.  If blame MUST be issued, then Hamilton acted rashly.  However, if punish drivers every time they make a risky move, the sport will become dull.  As long as the move is made in 'good faith' and it's clear there was a chance of success, then have at it.

In the past we know that Nico would have pulled up.  I wonder if Lewis was counting on that.  On that score, Nico comes out the 'winner' in this crash, because Lewis is going to have to think twice about being aggressive with his teammate.

Offline Monty

Re: Rosberg's fault - and it was dangerous!
« Reply #9 on: May 16, 2016, 03:30:21 PM »
I know this is a case of 'agreeing to disagree'
But my final comments relate only to facts -
1. Hamilton was closing at well over 20kph on the severely slow Rosberg - his choices were; go right, go left, brake or crash into the back of Rosberg. No racing driver would brake - ever!
2. Everyone could see (confirmed by all of the racing driver pundits) that Hamilton's wing was in front of Rosberg's rear wheel when Rosberg turned right to 'close the door'. Therefore, the rule of leaving one car width was broken.
3. Rosberg was going slow due to his own error - he knew that. He also knew (by his own admission) that his team mate was overtaking him. He deliberately risked Lewis' life and then thought he could just carry on.

What people seem to be ignoring is that 'closing the door' on a car doing well over 100mph is potentially deadly - even if I did accept that it didn't break a rule!

Offline lkjohnson1950

Re: Rosberg's fault - and it was dangerous!
« Reply #10 on: May 16, 2016, 04:26:30 PM »
And how many times has Lewis "Closed the door" on Nico? Nico always took action to avoid Lewis. I said not too long ago that I wished Nico would stop dodging at least once. This is not exactly what I had in mind, but Lewis will think twice about squeezing Nico again.
Lonny

Offline Monty

Re: Rosberg's fault - and it was dangerous!
« Reply #11 on: May 16, 2016, 04:29:34 PM »
Quote
And how many times has Lewis "Closed the door" on Nico?
on a very fast straight where the outcome could be deadly? The answer is exactly 'never'.

Offline lkjohnson1950

Re: Rosberg's fault - and it was dangerous!
« Reply #12 on: May 16, 2016, 04:33:47 PM »
No, usually at corner exit where Nico could only back off or crash. He always backed off. This time he closed the door and LEWIS chose crash.
Lonny

Offline Monty

Re: Rosberg's fault - and it was dangerous!
« Reply #13 on: May 16, 2016, 04:53:49 PM »
Quote
No, usually at corner exit where Nico could only back off or crash. He always backed off. This time he closed the door and LEWIS chose crash.
I'm not going to win this one with you, am I?
Just one final fact - Hamilton was already alongside Rosberg so he had no choice in the matter. He did try really hard to avoid a crash which was probably his biggest mistake. If he had held his line and touched Rosberg perhaps Rosberg would have steered left and stopped such a major incident. However, he moved away from Rosberg, went fully on the grass and at that speed he just became a passenger. It was still an accident that Rosberg could easily have avoided.

Offline Jericoke

Re: Rosberg's fault - and it was dangerous!
« Reply #14 on: May 16, 2016, 06:02:06 PM »
Quote
No, usually at corner exit where Nico could only back off or crash. He always backed off. This time he closed the door and LEWIS chose crash.
I'm not going to win this one with you, am I?
Just one final fact - Hamilton was already alongside Rosberg so he had no choice in the matter. He did try really hard to avoid a crash which was probably his biggest mistake. If he had held his line and touched Rosberg perhaps Rosberg would have steered left and stopped such a major incident. However, he moved away from Rosberg, went fully on the grass and at that speed he just became a passenger. It was still an accident that Rosberg could easily have avoided.

How much visibility is there in an F1 car?  I know a road car has awful visibility in the position that Hamilton was in.  I can't imagine a HANS helmet and those flimsy mirrors allow a judgement of a few centimeters.  But they're elite drivers, so maybe it is reasonable for them to know how many cm there are between their rear wheels and the front wing of a competitor.

As you point out, Nico's admission seems to pin blame on him, however I suspect that everyone at Mercedes was sticking to a script agreed to in the 'treehouse', so I wouldn't take any of it at face value.  Muddying the waters to eliminate a third reprimand for Lewis would be a goal of the discussions.

Many modern road cars have 'blindspot' warnings.  If this is truly a dangerous situation, then it would be a trivial matter to install similar devices on an F1 car.  As both drivers are automatically informed of the potential danger, the rules can be codified for who has the right of way in this scenario.

 


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