2013 Malaysian GP

[DJ Lazy]

Did you not watch the podium boosted? Hamilton himself on international TV said that Nico was the one who should be on the podium and that being up there didn't feel right. He was up there to represent the team.

Brawn wanted both cars to finish as they were, not risk running out tires trying to chase down the Bulls, run out of fuel on both cars, etc. It was the teams decision to hold position, both drivers knew this and obeyed the call, unlike the Bulls.

[lilmira]

May be Vet was trying to engage slingshot, I'm cool with that.

[94boosted]

Originally posted by Mibz
How would he "persuade" Rosberg to pass without doing something dangerous and/or against team orders? Are you saying that you fault Vettel for disobeying orders but also fault Hamilton for sticking to them?

Nobody's arguing that he didn't deserve the podium and I don't think any of us really know why he was left in front, but it certainly wasn't his fault and, IMO, he handled the situation about as well as he could have.

As for speculating on how much faster Rosberg could have been, that's the team's call, not Hamilton's. If you want to give somebody a thumbs down for the decision, look at Brawn.

EDIT: This post came out a lot harsher than I meant it to be, I promise, haha.

Valid point Mibz, by "Persuade" I mean a simple radio to the team saying "hey guys Nico is faster can I let him pass?", maybe he did, who knows. I suppose it is Brawn that deserves the thumbs down more so than Hamilton. My bad.

Team orders are a whole different story but what Vettel did was reckless, he could of easily caused both Red Bulls to crash out with his selfish pass.

Originally posted by DJ Lazy
Did you not watch the podium boosted? Hamilton himself on international TV said that Nico was the one who should be on the podium and that being up there didn't feel right. He was up there to represent the team.

Brawn wanted both cars to finish as they were, not risk running out tires trying to chase down the Bulls, run out of fuel on both cars, etc. It was the teams decision to hold position, both drivers knew this and obeyed the call, unlike the Bulls.

I stopped watching after the water/break room, but if Hamilton said that then props to him.

[triplep]

I am confused? I am not defending what Vettel did, but if we were all watching the same race, didn't Webber almost run Vettel into the wall during the pass?

[Tomaz]

Originally posted by triplep
I am confused? I am not defending what Vettel did, but if we were all watching the same race, didn't Webber almost run Vettel into the wall during the pass?

It was more like a friendly "fuck off/oops, didn't see you there jackass " instead of pushing Vettel into the wall. I dont blame him either. Fucker didn't tune down his engine, and was being a spoiled brat about it. I cant lie, I really enjoyed watching the battle of the RBR cars. But looking back, that was just too ballsy for just having the benefit of 1st. I thought webber was the better driver in that one. He did very well in holding vettel at bay for being de-tuned.

I have to say, Hamilton has been humbled somehow and its refreshing to see. As much as he loves winning, he loves deserving the win more, and that showed in the interview. Smart move by Mercedes IMO.

[rage2]

Rosberg was faster than Hamilton but couldn't pass him. Hamilton kept taking the position back at the next corner. They actually passed each other back and forth for 2 laps. Brawn called it off because they both would've run out of fuel battling each other till the end.

[DJ Lazy]

Originally posted by rage2
Rosberg was faster than Hamilton but couldn't pass him. Hamilton kept taking the position back at the next corner. They actually passed each other back and forth for 2 laps. Brawn called it off because they both would've run out of fuel battling each other till the end.

Now that I think about it... Rosberg made multiple mistakes when overtaking Hamilton. He always passed Hami before the last hairpin which always gave Hami DRS down the main straight. If Rosberg would have held off passing and just got close going into the hairpin he would have had the luxury of DRS down the straight and the next of the lap to pull a bit of a gap and possibly claim the 3rd step on the podium BEFORE Brawn called it quits after the 2-3 laps they swapped position down the 2 straights.


One could say Rosberg shot himself in the foot with his own choices of overtake location.

[Kramerica]

I have a feeling Vettel is going to hand Webber a token win later on in the season if he has the Driver's championship wrapped up.

Damage has been done now though, Red Bull have now become Vettel's team and they're going to have to deal with the negative PR associated with that. He called their bluff and they didn't do anything about it and I'd be surprised if they do anything about it in the future. If I was Webber I'd monitor Massa and Perez's progress closely and look at getting a contract in place as soon as the opportunity arises. He can't be happy, he should be tied for lead in the driver's championship right now and instead he's 3rd.

[DJ Lazy]

Originally posted by Kramerica
I have a feeling Vettel is going to hand Webber a token win later on in the season if he has the Driver's championship wrapped up.

Damage has been done now though, Red Bull have now become Vettel's team and they're going to have to deal with the negative PR associated with that. He called their bluff and they didn't do anything about it and I'd be surprised if they do anything about it in the future. If I was Webber I'd monitor Massa and Perez's progress closely and look at getting a contract in place as soon as the opportunity arises. He can't be happy, he should be tied for lead in the driver's championship right now and instead he's 3rd.

Originally posted by DJ Lazy


If I were Webber, I'd seriously be thinking about switching teams or retiring... He's never going to get equal treatment in the team as long as Vettel is there. Unless of course he has accepted the fact that he is the #2 and has no hope of winning the championship with a team that has 6 World Titles to its name in 3 years... none of them being his.

I called it!

[Kramerica]

Originally posted by DJ Lazy
I called it!

Definitely . Like I said he's a modern day Mansell. If I was him from here on in I'd just blame every poor start and break down on Red Bull and have a free pass. He's gotta start marketing a little, its clear Red Bull is a dead end.

[boi-alien]

i would have liked it more if Vettel straight up said, "Yes I passed him, I'm a racing driver and I'm being paid to race, so I raced,"

Instead he comes out with his insincere apology, just make him look like a little bitch

[cycosis]

^I agree with where you're coming from but that wouldn't help mend the immense tension in the garage, only add to it. It would have been a more legitimate comment had Webber not been ordered to make adjustments to his engine. You can see on Vettel's face during the pre podium discussion his realization that what he did was not good in the eyes of his bosses, team, team mate. I think we'd like to think of him as becoming tougher but that certainly isn't a reality.

I don't understand what Vettel is trying to communicate when he keeps saying "he didn't mean to" in regards to the pass. Uh... sure......

[Mibz]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/106393

Not that I respect anything Flavio says, but I had a great time reading that.

[CapnCrunch]

I love how everyone thinks this guy should apologize for winning the race. I think Webber is a bitch for not trying to take the lead back.

That would have been an awesome battle, even more so if Rosberg wasn't a bitch and was allowed to catch up.

[Inzane]

^ The whole point of the team orders in the first place was to prevent a "battle" between teammates that could risk taking out both cars. (or running out of fuel)

[CapnCrunch]

Originally posted by Inzane
^ The whole point of the team orders in the first place was to prevent a "battle" between teammates that could risk taking out both cars. (or running out of fuel)

That would have been way more exciting.

[rage2]

Yup, way more exciting for us for sure.



Too bad that's an expensive mistake for the team hahaha.

[lilmira]

There is always going to be conflict of interest between the individual driver and the team. Getting rid of it completely? One car one team, ain't gonna happen.

[Inzane]

Originally posted by CapnCrunch
That would have been way more exciting.

Sure, but this isn't NASCAR.

When spectacular crashes become the norm in open wheel racing, people tend to die.

I'll take safety of the drivers first, entertainment value second.

BTW, I'm not saying battles are bad and shouldn't happen. I'm just saying in the specific example of Vettel vs. Webber I'm sure the team was thinking there was a higher likelihood there of a double DNF than a battle between Grosjean vs. Maldonado.

[Mibz]

Originally posted by Inzane
I'm sure the team was thinking there was a higher likelihood there of a double DNF than a battle between Grosjean vs. Maldonado.

Zing!