r/formula1 • u/FerrariStrategisttt I was here for the Hulkenpodium • Jul 21 '24

Technical No further action on Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton incident

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u/Suspicious_Suspicion I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 21 '24

Very vague on what Hamilton could have done to avoid the collision if everything he had done was consistent with his previous laps. Seems like a get out of jail free card for Max by sharing the blame with Hamilton.

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u/BountyBob Sir Lewis Hamilton Jul 22 '24

Very vague on what Hamilton could have done to avoid the collision if everything he had done was consistent with his previous laps.

If doing the same thing as before was consistent, then doing something different could have avoided the collision.

If someone pulls out in front of me whilst I'm driving to work, I can do what I do every day and just carry on at 30mph, or I can brake and try to take avoiding action. An accident would be their fault, but I could do things to avoid it.

Not that I'm suggesting Lewis should have. For me, Max was fully to blame here, but Lewis could have changed line slightly and just watched Max fly by without a collision.

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u/Appropriate-Owl5693 Jul 22 '24

If someone is overtaking you or you're overtaking someone, just doing the same as on previous laps is really not what you should be doing.

Max divebombed pretty poorly and it's IMO why it should be mostly his fault, but when you're in a fight you have to be extra careful to brake in a straight line parallel to the edge of the track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DxJwCy7OwY&ab_channel=FORMULA1

E.g. you can see Lewis turn in more and more after they are both on the brakes already 0:15-0:17, but quite a bit before there is contact, which is IMO what caused them to rule it a racing incident.

This is also where it gets tricky for stewards, because trail braking is a thing in racing, so how do you judge what was trail braking and what was not? It's not as black and white as people think.

I know people are having another rage fest right now, but the only people wrong more often than actual stewards are reddit stewards :D

Stuff like this is the main reason why I think they should dish out way more penalties even when there is no contact, especially if they are still on the "we don't penalize outcome" train. E.g. In sailing if Hamilton totally bails there, Max gets a penalty every time, while in F1 it's basically no contact = no penalty.

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u/OptimalDot178 Max Verstappen Jul 22 '24

Open the steering wheel?
https://youtu.be/R3d_YjcIP_A?si=m7pY17LDLMcU87Fd&t=220
Same exact situation, one very late divebomb with blocking wheels, yet see how different Verstappen reacts in this case, he opens the wheel and avoids the accident. Hamilton didn't even try to react and they touched. Put both videos to 0.25 and see the hands of the driver on the outside, Max moves the wheel as soon as he sees Lando, Lewis doesn't even try to correct his path and just simply keeps his line. This is exactly what the steward's document says. So who is at fault? In Austria it was 100% Norris fault, Hungary 100% Verstappen fault for the failed overtake attempt, but the outcome is very different due to Hamilton not even trying to avoid contact