Comments on: Kubica and Vettel collide (Video) (Update: Vettel handed penalty)

By: wasiF1

wasiF1 — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 03:22:49 +0000

I do believe it was a racing incident.Sory 4 vettrel,but what a start 4 d season.It shows RedBull has d pace,i will tip them 4 a win somewhere in d season

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:48:27 +0000

Nick, watch out because you’re being seduced by the steward’s penalty-giving bol***ks. Because of the precedent they have set over the last couple of years, people now think you should give penalties to drivers who happen to make mistakes, not reckless or dangerous moves; this makes me very sad for the sport.

By: Polak

Polak — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 06:50:47 +0000

The Limit, well spoken “Two destroyed motor cars, no points, and two very cheesed off team owners will be penalty enough for Vettel and Kubica.”

Vettel made some mistakes that caused his already slower car to loose time. Kubica was probably told on the radio that he has a mathematical chance for a win. With that in mind it seems logical that Kubica went for the overtake. It wasn’t for 2nd it was for 1st. Vettel had just a split second to make up his mind. He chose to defend and quickly realized that he didn’t have the grip to do so. Hot blood on both drivers. Respect to Vettel and Kubica. It was a great show, but a shame that they got replaced by BAR and HAM.

Also when Vettel admitted fault, I think its because he blamed himself for thinking he can hold his line and defend when in fact he didn’t have the grip. Racing period.

By: The Limit

The Limit — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:28:22 +0000

@Oliver

Well pointed out. The onboard shots from Kubica’s car clearly showed Vettel braking first into the corner. I have to admit, when I first saw the footage, it looked like Vettel had conceded.
The Windtunnel show on Speed Tv suggested that maybe Red Bull should have ‘ordered’ Vettel to concede, as
obviously Kubica was faster. However, very difficult for both team and driver to make that call with so much at stake.
The simple fact is that it was three laps from the end, and had up until then been the dream start to Vettel’s career with Red Bull’s A team. They didn’t want to lose track position, and neither did Vettel.

@. Jim.

100% right. Both drivers made mistakes, but that is what makes life interesting. In any sport you have to apply pressure to a rival in order to force a mistake.
More often than not, it pays off. Hamilton and Raikkonen both forced each other into making errors during last years race, as have Vettel and Kubica this time out. I like you cannot see the point in trying to stiffle this aspect of motor racing. If Hamilton had made all of his racing moves in the pits, would he have finished the race where he did?
Ofcourse not, and the other drivers are no different. Two destroyed motor cars, no points, and two very cheesed off team owners will be penalty enough for Vettel and Kubica. They have been punished enough, as have we, with these nonsense penalties.
If a driver delibrately endangers the fans, marshals, or fellow drivers by his actions, then that is different. Everything else should be par for the course.

By: Dougie

Dougie — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 22:13:38 +0000

Hi Oliver, having watched the footage again (on the BBC as no longer available here) I don’t feel Kubica deliberately drove into Vettel. The fronts were locked together and Kubicas BMW skipped round on its back wheels, both still had their foots in. Not deliberate at all.

I also firmly believe 100% racing incident, no driver can be singled out for this one, both played their part.

I don’t understand what the authorities that be want from these decisions but it won’t be true racing that’s for sure.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:47:34 +0000

Racing incident!!! The resulting penalty is just the kind of thing that nearly made me boycott F1 last year.
Lets get some perspective here: these two men are racers. They are both in the heat of battle. Nobody did anything dangerous or reckless. Racing incident! Retrospectivly it is very easy to say, ” oh Kubica/Vettel should have done this”, but that’s missing the point. Also, one thing that really annoys me after these kinds of racing incidents is when you commenters try and defend a driver (Kubica in this case) by essentially saying (I’m paraphrasing here) “well X driver was so much faster than Y driver so he should have realised this and let him through”. Let me repeat: Racing drivers. It was a similar thing with the Hamilton/ Raikkonen incident at spa last year – I bet it was those same people here who said that Hamilton was so much faster so he should have just held back and waited instead of attacking at the first corner. Anyway, I’m digressing nad losing the point of what I was originally trying to say. And my blood pressure’s getting up

By: Oliver

Oliver — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:36:40 +0000

Dougie
Take a look at the accident again.After Kubica was forced into a spin, he did drive into Vettel. Its like a football player throwing a leg at the opponent who brought him down.

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:59:04 +0000

All this leads me to believe that this is the type of racing that we will see under the ‘Winner Take All’ method of rewarding the drivers that Bernie has suggested. Final few laps with this sort of aggression and accidents resulting in handing out constructor points to the ‘lucky’ ones not involved. Easily avoidable accident, though the stewards should not have apportioned any blame on either driver. Normal racing incident.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:56:33 +0000

According to F1.com, the stewards decided to penalise Vettel for ‘causing a collision and forcing a driver off the track’.

Clearly they didn’t bother looking at the replay much, as Kubica only got a couple of tyres on the grass, and at that point, Vettel was well and truly off the track. Were the stewards implying that Vettel was *pulling* Kubica off the road?

If you look at the tyre marks on the entry to the corner, Kubica seems to follow these very closely, implying that he hardly changed from the standard line. Furthermore, the freeze-frame of Vettel losing his front wing whilst almost still having his front wheel on the inside kerb says a lot of Kubica’s lack of space given. Despite all this, I still think it was pretty 50-50. Vettel wouldn’t have lost much downforce at that instant due to the slow speed anyway.

What really bugs me is that I basically believe Vettel was penalised effectively because he’s such a refreshingly nice, honest chap. Who happened to be overly harsh on himself. But the stewards must be objective, and look at the video, not just listen to driver testimonies. One of the key differences between this scenario and a road traffic accident is that this was filmed from several angles, so the drivers’ statements are of relatively lesser importance, even if self-incriminating.

I also thought it ironic that Hamilton’s action led to Trulli’s penalty. The reason for that action, of letting Trulli by, was to avoid that very penalty, due to his pananoia following some harsh decisions against him in the past. Can’t blame him. Effectively, what they should have done is both park up, say, “After You,” and test how long their engines can last… They couldn’t just ask Charlie Whiting to clarify, as he is not a steward, so is not the authority on the matter, as Hamilton found out in Spa…

By: Pablo M

Pablo M — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:25:16 +0000

I was very happy to see the BMW chopping time so fast with 5 laps to go, but I also knew that it is very easy for Robert yo get in over his head. This is the third race he has thrown away by trying to hard from third place
(I will take 6points over 0 anyday), he is a good driver but its little things like this that make him and Hamilton chancey bets. That race was his to win and he blew it he could have waited and passed him outta turn 5 and would have then been able to push for victory and he could have make up the 2.139 secs in the next 2.5 laps. The Brawns are not faster on the straights as we saw the second car being passed twice on the main straight