No Punishment for Lewis

[Scott]

I'll call BS on Toto...they would have been VERY unhappy if Lewis had managed to get Rosberg close enough to push him off the track and end his championship.  He knows perfectly well that both his drivers would have raced dirty if it meant winning the WDC.

[Andy B]

Mmmmm! I don't think that was Lewis's plan he needed to win the race and forcing Nico off could only have ended in disaster so backing him into Vettel and Mad Max was a reasonable plan.

[Scott]

Just a guess, and running someone wide doesn't mean he necessarily can't win the race.  As long as they didn't crash but he pushed Rosberg far enough off to either spin or lose a few places, then mission accomplished.

[John S]

Just a guess, and running someone wide doesn't mean he necessarily can't win the race.  As long as they didn't crash but he pushed Rosberg far enough off to either spin or lose a few places, then mission accomplished.

Whilst that's true there's the real risk of getting a time penalty or drive thru in any coming together or taking away an over takers space, Lewis couldn't risk losing places himself, his job would be even harder.

There was never a risk of a penalty from slowing the car behind, as Lewis has said you can win at any speed so long as you don't block the car behind illegally. It ain't pretty but the car behind has to find a way to pass - if they want to.     

[Monty]

There is no safe way of 'running someone off the road' in open wheel classes plus I do not believe a driver of Hamilton's standing would even try. We all know that some really dirty drivers have deliberately finished another drivers race but this has happened when the perpetrator has nothing to lose (e.g. Schumacher on Damon Hill). In this case Lewis had everything to lose and Rosberg had much less to lose. Hoping that other drivers might make life difficult for Rosberg was a perfectly reasonable strategy for Hamilton to use and Mercedes made themselves look foolish by making the unnecessary radio calls. Of course they were never going to 'punish' Hamilton. 

[Jericoke]

There is no safe way of 'running someone off the road' in open wheel classes plus I do not believe a driver of Hamilton's standing would even try. We all know that some really dirty drivers have deliberately finished another drivers race but this has happened when the perpetrator has nothing to lose (e.g. Schumacher on Damon Hill). In this case Lewis had everything to lose and Rosberg had much less to lose. Hoping that other drivers might make life difficult for Rosberg was a perfectly reasonable strategy for Hamilton to use and Mercedes made themselves look foolish by making the unnecessary radio calls. Of course they were never going to 'punish' Hamilton. 

If it's never been done, all the more reason that Lewis would consider it.

I don't think it was his plan, but he's been in enough bumps in an F1 car that if anyone on the grid can take someone out and keep going, it would be Lewis.

If that was his plan though, it would have happened.

[Scott]

There is no safe way of 'running someone off the road' in open wheel classes plus I do not believe a driver of Hamilton's standing would even try. We all know that some really dirty drivers have deliberately finished another drivers race but this has happened when the perpetrator has nothing to lose (e.g. Schumacher on Damon Hill). In this case Lewis had everything to lose and Rosberg had much less to lose. Hoping that other drivers might make life difficult for Rosberg was a perfectly reasonable strategy for Hamilton to use and Mercedes made themselves look foolish by making the unnecessary radio calls. Of course they were never going to 'punish' Hamilton. 

Rosberg ran Hamilton off the road and it caused them both to crash out (Spain), and Hamilton ran Rosberg off the road and Rosberg lost at least a couple of places (cant remember the race, but it was early in the race and in fact I think Rosberg took that one - maybe one of Hamiltons technical failures) - plus Austria was questionable.  All were intentional in my opinion and happened this season.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it does happen.

[John S]

If that was his plan though, it would have happened.

Sure, but as I've explained the risk made it a totally unworkable plan that's why he never even considered using it.

[cosworth151]

Nico does have a reputation for making mistakes under pressure. Lewis might have been hoping for that when Max & Seb started pressuring Nico.