Button frustrated after drive-through penalty

2011 Australian Grand Prix

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Felipe Massa, Jenson Button, Melbourne, 2011

Jenson Button said Felipe Massa forced him off the track during their battle for position during the Australian Grand Prix, leading to the McLaren driver receiving a drive-through penalty.

Speaking after the race Button said: “I got an OK start and then I was surprised to see [Vitaly] Petrov on the inside, he had a very good start, and forced me wide.

“I got stuck behind [Felipe] Massa because I had a very poor exit out of turn one. And that was the worst move of the race because he was so slow.

“He’s the most difficult person to overtake. He blocked me very well. But it just slowed us both down massively.

“I tried to overtake around turn 11 and he went so deep into the corner, pushed me wide, I wouldn’t go around the corner any more so I cut the corner. I was in front before we entered the corner.

“And then, you know, I didn’t know what to do. The team said ‘stay where you are’, which was the correct thing to do, ‘we’ll see what the stewards say’.

“As soon as Ferrari saw that happened they pitted Massa, and as soon as that happens you get a drive-through. So I don’t know if that was done on purpose or not.

“I got a drive-through and then I had to fight my way through which was quite fun but being that far back is very frustrating because the pace was much better than that.”

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    Keith Collantine
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    173 comments on “Button frustrated after drive-through penalty”

    1. Everyone watching knew Button should let Massa back passed or he’d get a penalty. Why didn’t he or McLaren?

      1. Because Alonso passed Massa straight after, was it a tactical choice by Ferrari?, after all Button would then have to let both the Ferrari drivers past.

        1. But he in the end ended up behind both anyway due to the drive-trough. If he had let them pass he would have had the change to try and repass them; now he only got to Massa again after half the race was gone, and never saw Alonso again during the race.

          Really, and as it should be, the smart, right, thing to do is: when in doubt, give the place back.

        2. I watched the incident live and I agreed wholeheartedly with Brundle and Coulthard, that Button should let Massa back through.

          Once I saw Massa pulling aside for Alonso, I was shouting at the TV that MaClaren should have (used their nouse and) pitted Button so that both Ferrari’s were in front but he had the benefit of the pit stop.

          Was better than just pulling aside and allowing both through as Button got a benefit. Yes it would have been a little earlier than he wanted but still much better than the eventual outocme which really MaClaren should have been able to foresee.

          Let’s face it, MaClaren’s reputation in Oz is not that stellar after Ham lying to the stewards, so lose 5 seconds or lose 25 seconds? It shouldn’t be a hard decision even without the benefit of hindsight.

          1. wouldn’t have worked. He wouldn’t have been classed as giving back the advantage. oh, and it’s McLaren

          2. Hindsight is ALWAYS 20-20. I really think Button could have done a better job of passing Massa in the first place, maybe there is something for him to learn as well, from his teammate. I’m sure Hamilton would not have had the same problem. I think he is in a good car ( so far ) and he should try to capitalize when the Ferrari is not fast and webber is looking slow ( why ? ). He should have never tried to overtake there, that is a very bad corner for overtaking.

      2. Honestly I don’t know what were they thinking. That’s the first thing that came to my mind after I saw the manoeuvre: give back the position. Yes, Alonso would benefit from that, tough luck. It would be better than a drive-through penalty.

        If McLaren doesn’t have anyone sharp enough to make such decisions during the race, they should definitely start looking.

        1. Or Button. He should have let Massa back straight away and tried again a few corners later. Why involve the team in the decision?

          1. Agreed, Button can whine all he wants to about it, but he messed up, and I don’t care, the battle between he and Massa was the most exciting of the race!

      3. I presume they decided to see if they could get away with it as they thought that they had nothing to lose, i.e. Button pulls away and if they get to keep it all is good, worst-case they drop back and give back the place. Unfortunately they didn’t realise that Alonso would follow Button through or that there would be a pit-stop.

        That’s my theory anyway.

        1. Agreed. The fact Ferrari did the same in Silverstone should have warned them though.

          1. Ferrari learned from last year, and I think everyone should have taken note of what happened to Alonso there, and just not risk it. Ferrari made sure that Button would loose position to both of their cars, and I can’t believe anyone in the pits could have not expected that.

        2. button was claimin on the radio tat he was definitely ahead when he came out of the corner. maybe with tat assumption they thot they’d get away with it? it was a big gamble anyway.

          1. Even if he was.. that doesn’t give him the right to cut the next corner just to keep felipe behind him. He definitely deserved the penalty..

            1. Not if Massa didn’t give him enough room…

              I’m not sure about the issue to be honest, it’s very iffy…

            2. Its kind of like Spa 2008, but even there Lewis stepped off the gas to let Kimi by. Jenson really didn’t give a crap, he just wanted to dart ahead and pretend that the camera’s didn’t catch it.

        3. Withmarsh said afterwards, they asked race control about it and RC promised to get back to them about it. Next thing was the investigation and penalty.

          That said, I think it was pretty clear Button should have let Massa by immedeately after the corner instead of pulling away. Massa was very slow on the speed there, he must have been letting Alonso past. No wonder Button then pulled away, he could see this coming.

          Sure, nice trick of Ferrari to deal the cards this way by pitting Massa. Its a tough battle out there.

          1. Whitmarsh also explained that it was Button’s decision to stay ahead of Massa. Incredibly lame that he now tries to blame the team for his own blunder.

            Besides, Alonso pitted first. While Massa was obviously struggling with his tyres. How on earth did he not see it coming that Massa was going to pit soon too?

            1. Exactly. There are two myths when comparing Button to Hamilton, one that Hamilton is too aggressive on his tyres (he’s been showing the contrary since last season) and two that Button is the thinker. In fact Hamilton is a much quicker decision maker and probably would have immediately ceded position, confident he could regain it. Button threw the onus onto the team, stalled the decision and gave Ferrari time to activate plan A (get Alonso past Massa).

              Then again Hamilton would probably have got past Massa cleanly in the first place…

            2. I think it would have been Massa who made the decision, and not the Ferrari pit wall.

              To be honest, I think this was Massa letting Alonso past the right way, Great team work from Ferrari.

        4. Also having seen it again, part of the reason Button pulled ahead so quickly was that he got a much better drive out of the corner by taking the short cut.

        5. Most accurate yet James.

          1. He deserved the penalty no doubt, if course it made it difficult with Fernando coming through but still should’ve let them by. How he thought he was ahead i’ll never know.

            I don’t think he was pushed either, he should’ve followed him instead of trying a Hamilton-esque move against Rosberg.

        6. McL are so used to get away with everything with the Mcstewards and the Mcracedirector, they tough they would go unpunished. They are still roaring about Spa where for once in their life they got what they deserve.

          1. Thought not tough

      4. I tried to overtake around turn 11 and he went so deep into the corner, pushed me wide, I wouldn’t go around the corner any more so I cut the corner. I was in front before we entered the corner.

        No he wasn’t. The two were side-by-side and Button cut the track and earned not only the position but quite a lot of time, because he cut the track not near the kerb but clearly in the middle of the corner.

        1. I think you’re right fixy. Besides, how can you be ahead of someone on the track but then be pushed of the track by them? He had to have seen massa beside him pushing him off the track, so Jenson thought that because his nose was ahead a bit, he had the position?

          1. Nevermind PM,

            I had some spare time and found your post Silverston comment about Alonso-Kubica.

            Definately the right decision, though leave it to Ferrari to make martyrs of themselves. Alonso has no-one to blame but himself for the situation. The golden rule for this kind of thing is that when in doubt, there is no doubt. Jumping on the radio to send a message to the viewers and the stewards to make yourself look innocent does nothing.

            Great comment, even if you replace the names ‘Alonso’ with ‘Button’ and ‘Ferrari’ with ‘Mclaren’

            1. WHy here?

        2. Even if he was marginally ahead at the corner (it wasn’t enough to see it on the footage, I checked it a few times), cutting that corner gave a big advantage. Without it Massa and/or Alonso would have been on top of him at the next corner.

    2. i think by the time McLaren were thinking what to do, Massa let Alonso by… so if now Button has to give up positions he would have to let both Ferrari’s ahead… and then they pitted immediately. McLaren should have told Button to give up position the next corner. Even if Alonso had gone ahead of Button… Button would have managed to over take both of them at the pits jus like Petrov. McLaren need to be quick with their reactions.

    3. Excuses.

      Sure, Alonso’s pass on Massa made it complicated. But Alonso pitted first, and that lap was one and a half minutes long enough for Button to let Massa back past.

      A minute and a half I was calling him to let Massa past, if I can see it then surely McLaren and Button could see it.

      Like I said, excuses.

      1. Excuses.

        At least this excuse is a new one from Button, I’m glad he’s not mentioned the “lack of grip”.

        1. Or “massive front locking”…

          1. Or “the balance of the car”

            1. Or “massive front locking”…

              LOL, forgot about that one.

              Or “the balance of the car”

              HAHA, and that one.

              I have a proposal for you chaps (and chapettes before Steph and Grace rocks up)

              For Buttons birthday I say we buy him the following;
              1)a Padlock
              2)a Grip for power tools
              3)some scales

            2. Thankyou, for my first genuine LOL of the day :D

            3. LOL, once he gets those, maybe he will start owning up when Hamilton dishes out the bi-weekly beatings :D

    4. My point exactly. He lost about 16 seconds or more in total just to gain only about 4 seconds. Makes me wonder what goes on Behind the Mclaren pitwall during the race. After Hamilton’s Belgian affair, it had become obvoius that the FIA wont allow such stand especially when you consider tha in Hamilton’s case, not only did he have to take avoiding action, he also gave the position back. Button on the other hand forced the situation. I guess Mclaren were looking to ther simulator for advice.

    5. I think it’s common knowledge that he should’ve let Massa straight through, but it’s certainly worth noting Ferrari’s clever/sneaky behaviour (depending on how you see it) by switching the two and then pitting them both. Interesting…

      1. For me it looked like Massa did put up a fight.

        Well, I guess it’s mainly question of whether you root for McLaren or not.

      2. Ferrari was unable to pit both at the same time though weren’t they? and I think you could more clearly define it as sneaky if they had pitted Massa straight away but they didn’t, they pitted Alonso. Which allowed Mclaren almost 2 full laps to decide to let Massa past.

        I’m sure if Rob Smedley had quickly yelled out ‘let Alonso past for the team!’ (in the 10 seconds it took Alonso to get past) the media would have been all over Ferrari’s ‘team orders’ on the first race of the year.

        1. And Ferrari would have shrugged, and said it was allowed now, especially as it let both drivers be well clear of a competitor, and they would be right.

          Much as I dislike team orders, here, even with a team order ban, I think it might have been a slightly sneaky, but clever, move to let Alonso pass Massa; afterall, here Alonso was really faster than Massa,. Had they needed to, they could have waited for him to use KERS and DRS on the straight though.

      3. I think that Ferrari were going to pit then regardless if you look at the length of other drivers’ stints, and Ferrari’s 2nd stints.

        I don’t think Massa let Alonso by. It’s pretty common in motorsport that once you get overtaken once, you lose momentum and are very susceptible to being overtaken again at the next few corners.

    6. Never mind Mclaren, Button isn’t daft and is experienced enough to know he should have to yield that position back. Other than that anomaly though i thought he looked alright today.

    7. So I don’t know if that was done on purpose or not.

      If it was, a disqualfication should have been handed down. I’m not saying this because I don’t like Ferrari, I’m saying this because there is a line somewhere, and if Ferrari did it deliberately, then they crossed a line. I know team orders are legal this year, and even if I don’t like them, I’m willing to stay silent about them if a team is swapping their own drivers about. But if they make a call that affects a rival competitor as massively as giving them a drive-through penalty, then that’s taking things too far. You’re not affecting your own race, you’re interfering with someone else’s. If I were McLaren, I’d be appealing to the stewards to listen to the pit-to-car transmissions between Ferrari and Massa. If Ferrari ordered Massa to pit in order to stick a penalty on Jenson Button and take him out of the running, then they deserve a disqualification. And I’d be saying it if McLaren were the ones who did it to Ferrari. Meddle with your own results as much as you want. Meddle with someone else’s, and you’ve taken things too far. Likewise, the stewards should have made Ferrari swap Massa and Alonso back, because Button shouldn’t have to gift Alonso a position given the circumstances.

      At the very least, the rules should be changed. If a driver leaves the bounds of the circuit and gains a place, but his rival pits or retires before he can give that place back, then ten seconds should be added to his time at the end of the race. A drive-through should only be issued if a driver goes out of bounds to pass another, but does not give the place back and the other drive stays out of the pits and in the race.

      1. While I agree the pitting thing needs a bit looking into, I am not too sure it would be rife for DSQ.

        I thought it pretty clever by Ferrari actually. Not nice, but it did the trick.

        1. Okay, let’s put it this way: d’Ambrosio and Kovalainen go into turns 11 and 12 side-by-side. D’Ambrosio is squeezed wide and leaves the bounds of the track, but picks up a place. Before he is given a chance to give the place back, Fernandes-Lotus has Kovalainen pit straight away because they know they are racing d’Ambrosio, and they know that if Kovalainen pits, d’Ambrosio will not be able to give the place back and will get a drive-through penalty because of it. Although the cars are approaching the next round of pit stops, telemetry shows that Kovalainen has not experienced the kind of decrease in lap times that means he needs to come straight in (though he will very soon). D’Ambrosio is given a drive-through penalty, ruining his race, and Kovalainen goes on to score points. If not for the penalty, d’Ambrosio would have been racing Kovalainen for a points-scoring finish. It is the final race of the season, and these points will secure tenth place in the Constructors’ standings.

          You are in Johnny Herbert’s position. At the end of the race, Virgin protest the result, claiming that Fernandes-Lotus had Kovalainen pit to force a drive-through penalty onto d’Ambrosio and effectively take him out of the race. Pit-to-car conversations show that Kovalainen was told to pit as soon as he reported d’Ambrosio left the circuit and gained a place. There had been no previous chatter to indicate that Fernandes-Lotus wanted Kovalainen to come in; they have not even asked him what state his tyres are in. However, Fernandes-Lotus claim that Kovalainen was beginning to experience a slow-down in lap times, and that they ordered him to pit because they knew they were racing d’Ambrosio and wanted to change tyres before the drop-off in performance occurred. Both versions of events are equally plausible.

          As the driver-steward, what do you do?

          1. There is no law in Jupiter that says you can only pit when your tyres are worn out. And seeing that some of the FIA’s rules are from another planet, II guess the same still holds. If you do wrong correct it immediately by the next corner. Don’t wait for your simulator to analyse the trade off.

            1. There is no law in Jupiter that says you can only pit when your tyres are worn out.

              No, there isn’t. But you can’t tell me that pitting to force someone else to take a penalty and remove them from the race is sportsmanlike.

            2. But didn’t our beloved team try to do just that in Australia of 2009 against Trulli, after going against and messing up thier driver’s understanding of the rule.

            3. And III also believe Ferrari handed Mclaren an opportunity to sort things out by pitting Alonso First. But stubborn people never learn. We will just hear sweet talking post race of houw they honestly felt this or that or this data supports whatever.

            4. So, they should be both dsq when they broke no rules whatsoever, only because you find that unsportmanslike. Perfect.

              Go send Button to take some driving lessons instead, he needs them badly.

            5. No, there isn’t. But you can’t tell me that pitting to force someone else to take a penalty and remove them from the race is sportsmanlike.

              No, but its also not against the rules.

            6. So, they should be both dsq when they broke no rules whatsoever, only because you find that unsportmanslike.

              Unsportsmanlike conduct is grounds for disqualfication.

              I’m willing to bet that if Button and Massa were in reversed roles, the Ferrari fans would be calling for blood.

            7. Im willing to bet that if Button and Massa were in reversed roles, the Ferrari fans would be calling for blood.

              But they are not in reversed roles, and if they were, those fans wouldn’t actually be right, would they?

            8. “Unsportsmanlike conduct is grounds for disqualfication.”

              Like overtaking someone via a shortcut and then not giving your position back?

            9. PM that’s the most ridonkulous thing I’ve ever read…

          2. Although I agree Button should have yeilded the position, by taking the course of action after Ferraris deliberate actions in confusing the situation the race stewards have se a dangerous precedent, given the same set of circumstances again team orders will allow a team to manipulate the race outcome. I think the lesson learnt is that drivers should just yeild the position and not leave to chance other drivers/teams actions.

            1. Button had Seb Syndrome going into turn twelve. It’s a rare condition that affects only racing drivers. Because of the HANS device anchoring his head in place and the high sides of the cockpit, a driver cannot see to either side of him, and nor can he turn his head to look. Looking at the overhead view of the incident, Button was alongside Massa and had the inside line going into turn twelve. Given that he physically could not see Massa, it’s little wonder that he thought he had the position.

          3. Absolutely nothing. You can pit whenever you please, there’s no rule that your tyres need to be worn such-and-such or whatever. If it gains you and advantage, well that’s what the rules are about. Tough luck for Button that Alonso got so close, but absolutely nothing illegal from Ferrari whichever way you look at it.

            1. What the races (not the rules) are about

            2. In my opinion is a joke to believe that Button thought he had the corner and that Massa pussed him out of the track. He clearly gain a advantage and he should give the position back, before even the next corner. It’s that simple.

              I can’t understand it at all. All drivers if they where in Button possition they would do the same thing and all drivers except him would say that he should give the possition back. It’s a F1 driver thingy, I guess.

          4. I disagree with you here mate. In Japan 2005 Alonso passed Klien at the final chicane over the run-off and immediately lifted, letting Klien by, then mugged him going into turn 1. He received a drive thru’ but the stewards changed their mind afterwards and said it was ok. Hamilton tried the same trick in Spa but didn’t let Raikkonen through completely and was therefore punished.

            If JB had lifted whilst cutting the corner he would be very close to massa at turn 14 and therefore eligible to use drs on the straight and probably pass. This in my opinion would have resulted in 2 McLaren’s on the podium today.

            As for interfering with McLaren’s race, i do not agree with. Massa was slow and Ferrari knew a penalty or button dropping back was likely, so they were simply doing what was best for the team.

            It would be interesting to hear from you.

            1. If JB had lifted whilst cutting the corner he would be very close to massa at turn 14 and therefore eligible to use drs on the straight and probably pass. This in my opinion would have resulted in 2 McLaren’s on the podium today.

              No he wouldn’t. He’d used the DRS in the last god knows how many preceding laps and couldn’t get past Massa. What would of made this lap any better. The Mclarens were poor out of the last corners which is where Hamilton lost so much time to Vettel in Qualifying. Keith did a post on it. Basically this is why Buttons use of the DRS didn’t work against Massa in the first stint of the race.

            2. Button did pass Massa on-track in the end so it’s not unreasonable to assume that had he aborted his attempt to pass Massa at turn 11 he’d have got by later.

              The McLarens were poor out of the last corners which is where Hamilton lost so much time to Vettel in Qualifying. Keith did a post on it.

              I never said the McLarens were poor in the last corner, I said the Red Bulls were good in the last sector.

            3. Or more likely he would have been able to stay out for 2 stops as opposed to the 3 that the Ferrari’s made and so had track position.

              As it was JB passed through the pits 3 times – the same as the Ferrari’s, but only benefited from new tyres on 2 of those (as the 3rd was the penalty) and still ended up racing the Ferrari’s…take the drive-through out of his race and he would have been challenging for a podium.

              Simple matter is Button broke the rules – whatever Ferrari then did doesn’t matter. If JB hadn’t broken the rules then it wouldn’t be an issue.

              And I’m a McLaren and Button fan saying this.

      2. At the very least, the rules should be changed. If a driver leaves the bounds of the circuit and gains a place, but his rival pits or retires before he can give that place back, then ten seconds should be added to his time at the end of the race. A drive-through should only be issued if a driver goes out of bounds to pass another, but does not give the place back and the other drive stays out of the pits and in the race.

        Agreed.

      3. If Ferrari ordered Massa to pit in order to stick a penalty on Jenson Button and take him out of the running, then they deserve a disqualification. And I’d be saying it if McLaren were the ones who did it to Ferrari. Meddle with your own results as much as you want. Meddle with someone else’s, and you’ve taken things too far.

        Couldn’t agree more. Once it became evident it could have been on purpose I was livid! it also took away a potential battle or two as well, had Button still been in the mix…

        1. So you think you can hand out dsqs to whatever driver just because you don’t like them. Your beloved Button should have given back the position right away, or (better for him) the moment ALO was pitting. It’s no fault of Ferrari that he didn’t.

          Rules are there for something, and you still have to break them to get a punishment. But you should already know that. Voluntary blindness can’t be cured.

          1. This has nothing to do with support of a driver and everything to do with what is considered – or should be considered – legal. I’m sorry, but there’s simply no way you can justify deliberately pitting a driver to force another to take a penalty. Even if it’s not in the rules, it’s a very dirty and underhanded tactic, regardless of who does it or who they do it to.

            1. They Pitted Massa TWO LAPS later. Fernando was pitted first. Mclaren had plenty of time to let Massa past. If you watch the race again (maybe two more times so that your Ferrari ‘hate goggles’ are fully off, you might see it a bit clearer.

            2. Ferrari pitted Alonso first, not Massa. So clearly Button could have just let Massa through.

            3. I didn’t see any deliberately pitting. As others have said before, Alonso pitted first. Button had all the time in the world to give the position back.

            4. Prisoner Monkeys
              28th March 2011, 1:13

              Ferrari pitted Alonso first, not Massa. So clearly Button could have just let Massa through.

              But Button believed he had the position and that Massa forced him off the circuit. Overhead shots of the incident show that Button is clearly alongside Massa and that he has the inside line going into turn twelve.

            5. You can’t take a shortcut and also take a position on the same corner, That’s how it is. Button got it wrong, his team should have told him so. Things didn’t work out, That’s F1.

              Ferrari did nothing nothing, they didn’t break any rules, they are allowed to pit any time the pit is open.

            6. Jeffrey Powell
              28th March 2011, 10:25

              Would have been very amusing to see how slow Massa would have gone to stop Button letting him repass, perhaps stopping briefly for an expresso in the pits.

      4. At the very least, the rules should be changed. If a driver leaves the bounds of the circuit and gains a place, but his rival pits or retires before he can give that place back, then ten seconds should be added to his time at the end of the race. A drive-through should only be issued if a driver goes out of bounds to pass another, but does not give the place back and the other drive stays out of the pits and in the race.

        I find it Hilarious that you come up with this now. I haven’t checked the archives, but I’m sure you weren’t singing this tune when Fernando passed Kubica last year and couldn’t give back the position because of Kubica’s retirement.

        1. Yeah. It was a bit sneaky, but it was also clever in an F1 way. McLaren knew the deal, they had time to react, they waited because they hoped to bargain with the stewards. That failed, just like it failed last year for Ferrari. Had they not tried to be overly clever themselves, they, like Ferrari last year, wouldn’t have had so much trouble. Better luck next time.

        2. Makes more sense to post this here.

          Nevermind PM,
          I had some spare time and found your post Silverston comment about Alonso-Kubica.
          Definately the right decision, though leave it to Ferrari to make martyrs of themselves. Alonso has no-one to blame but himself for the situation. The golden rule for this kind of thing is that when in doubt, there is no doubt. Jumping on the radio to send a message to the viewers and the stewards to make yourself look innocent does nothing.
          Great comment, even if you replace the names ‘Alonso’ with ‘Button’ and ‘Ferrari’ with ‘Mclaren’

          1. I believe the phrase “hoisted by one’s own petard” is appropriate.

          2. I would add 2 definitions, just to help newbies to understand PMspeak:
            Unsportsmanslike: anything done by Ferrari, always worth a DSQ
            Sportsmanslike: anything done by Button. also anything that hurts Ferrari

          3. Prisoner Monkeys
            28th March 2011, 1:10

            Definately the right decision, though leave it to Ferrari to make martyrs of themselves. Alonso has no-one to blame but himself for the situation. The golden rule for this kind of thing is that when in doubt, there is no doubt. Jumping on the radio to send a message to the viewers and the stewards to make yourself look innocent does nothing.

            The difference here is that Button’s situation was open to debate whereas Alonso clearly passed Kubica. And I suspect Ferrari told Alonso not to give the position back and take the penalty to prove a point about stewarding in the wake of Valencia.

            1. ummm thats great but button clearly passed massa. How else did he get in front? Feel free to ‘rebut’ that. I wanna hear your explanation as to how a car can get in front of another without passing it. :)

              And no the situation is the same as silverstone barring 1 difference.
              1- Instead of Ferrari getting penalised, they gained from the situation. This is the reason why you are being such a hypocrite

              Open your eyes
              Alonso-Kubica
              http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJXQXYapdxA

              Masaa-Button
              http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VICgULhacyA

            2. @PM. Its obvious that you are a jenson fan and an alonso hater, but I cannot believe that your bias would delude you to such an extent. Maybe you should take a look at the clips a little better. Both Alonso and Button made similar ATTEMPTS to overtake from the outside, both were squeezed by the defending driver, both cut the following corner and gained a position, and both were given the same penalty. I do not know how that classifies Jenson’s overtake as debatable, and Alonso’s as a deserved penalty.

            3. Its obvious that you are a jenson fan and an alonso hater, but I cannot believe that your bias would delude you to such an extent.

              I never said they did it. I said if they did it, then it should be grounds for disqualification because it was deliberately interfering with someone else’s race result. However, thanks to certain Ferrari fans who feel that anything Ferrari does is legal (even if someone else just got disqualified for it), everyone has misinterpreted what I’m saying. I’m not accusing Ferrari of anything. I’m just questioning a hypothetical situation where one team deliberately pits one of their cars to force another driver to take a drive-through penalty and remove them from the race, and whether or not this is considered sporting.

      5. F1 is ruthless. Bite the bullet and move on mate

      6. PM, what a lot of nonsense. As I see you your complete blindness generated by your hate to Ferrari has been well answered so I’ll only point your following comment:

        “I know team orders are legal this year, and even if I don’t like them, I’m willing to stay silent about them if a team is swapping their own drivers about.”

        Silence… Yeees!

    8. Button and McLaren must have been literally the only people watching who didn’t see that penalty was coming – especially after the precedent from Silverstone last year. Being forced wide isn’t an excuse, as Alonso found out with Kubica. Button had plenty of time to let Massa back through before he pitted as well, he should have done it immediately – a lapse in judgement that frankly I really didn’t expect from him.

      And McLaren should have ordered him to yield, I don’t know how they thought they were going to get away with it.

      1. its just because they didn’t want to let Alonso through… as it happens that would of been the better option

    9. But isn’t Mclaren waiting for a decision sneaky too? Personally i thought it less sporting to cut a corner and not relinquish the position than for Ferrari to work someone else’s stupidity to their own advantage. Though of course a GP wouldn’t be a GP without someone demanding someone else get disqualified for nothing!

    10. Ferrari’s Massa manages to hold up Mclaren’s Button till Alonso comes up to striking position.
      but Button never seams to be able to hold up Vettel so Hamilton can have a chance at Vettel.

      1. Thats probably because Vettel was on fresh rubber and was in a quicker car…

      2. I very much doubt Button had team mate on his mind at that very moment. I also believe Button stood to benefit by pushing ashad as he could. Vettel just had fresh tyres and at this stage Button doesn’t need to do a “Coulthard” team player thing just to be loved by the team. Mclaren like drivers that show a good fight not those without a purpose.

    11. personally, i hope it just gets dropped and chalk it up to lesson learned for next time:
      – Mclaren should make a quick decision regardless especially when pit stops are coming up.
      – Ferrari probably should try not to force the stewards levy a penalty

      at least Button showed that using DRS (& KERS) works for passing, twice. good stuff…

    12. am I wrong, or it happened just the same thing last year with alonso overtaking kubica?
      Anyway I think Ferrari pitted Massa because he was terribly off the pace with that tyres.

      1. And Grosjean and Bianchi did it in GP2 Asia.

    13. My guess is tha Mclaren thought….oh its not Lewis… Its ok no problem…Mosley not here.. Wink wink.

    14. “As soon as Ferrari saw that happened they pitted Massa, and as soon as that happens you get a drive-through. So I don’t know if that was done on purpose or not.

      I think they did, of course they did….

      1. Alonso pitted before Massa, and they both pitted after Webber, so there was nothing irregular about the stops.

    15. I’ve heard it all now. The Anyone But Ferrari gang are fantastic entertainment if nothing else. This is less than nothing. Now please excuse me whilst i go search for evidence of Ferrari tampering with Saubers rear wing….

      1. I heard a rumor that Ferrari was lowering the reliability of Red Bull’s KERS by using a focused EMP laser gun from space. Another rumor was that it was attached to a shark. :D

        1. did the sharks have laser on their heads? I heard that they did

          1. lasers*
            im a pedantic chap

            1. I think Ferrari were sandbagging ;)

          2. I saw that last night… Brilliant!

    16. I feel a bit sorry for Button but only because I like him because he was completely at fault. He made an excursion to pass which was as clear as day and he knows he isn’t allowed to do that. Fair enough, I accept a racing driver will always argue to say they should keep the position but after Singapore 09 and in particular, Silverstone 2010 (and his own incident in Valencia 2009) Mclaren and Jenson had more than enough warning as to what would happen so Button really can’t moan afterwards. On the plus side, the stewards have been stellar this weekend so thanks to them!

      1. yeah, it was a bit like Ferrari being suprised at the penalty last year Silverstone.

        Still a shame, he was going pretty solid despite being in the wrong place after he got stuck up behind Lewis after the start.

        1. Not just Ferrari, but McLaren had the same thing sort of recently. Hamilton had the same surprise in Magny Cours in 2008. When in fact he really WAS ahead of Vettel.

          Going off while overtaking just means you need to give your position back. No matter if the driver was (or thinks he was) in front or not.

          1. Yes. I think the question that should be asked in these situations is, “Would the overtake have been successful if the driver had stayed on the track?”

            In this case it’s obvious that had Button wished to stay within the confines of the track, he would have had to lift off, so he wouldn’t have made the overtake stick. Thus in my view a penalty was perfectly appropriate.

    17. Gnarly Racing (@)
      27th March 2011, 12:53

      Stupid unwritten rule, stupid track design. Why on earth is there a short cut across the chicane anyway? No way should Button have been able to cut the corner and carry on at full speed.

      Classic example of where a circuit needs changing, to prevent this crazy “let him back through” situation from even starting. Just some gravel or grass where Button rejoined the track would have done the trick, enough to slow him down and penalise him for going off. Not speed bumps as they’d launch an out-of-control car.

      But until that happens, surely the drivers will realise it costs less to take responsibility and just let the other guy back through, rather than wait for someone else to make a decision (or not). Must be frustrating but it’s the second high-profile example in a few months (Alonso at Silverstone), and these are experienced World Champions we’re talking about!

      Nice work by Alonso and Ferrari though, nipping past Massa straight away to confuse the issue.

      1. I agree with that: the design made that possible, that shouldn’t be the case…

      2. Why on earth is there a short cut across the chicane anyway?

        It’s called an escape road, usually for broken down cars to be able to pull in to, like Maldonado did earlier in the race.

        1. Isn’t it there because it’s an actual park?

          1. Yes it is an actual park. Andf for this weekend’s race, that section of the park was used as an escape road.

            1. The question was “why is it there”. Not “how was it used”.

    18. I think this incident happenings are taken out of proportions as far as calling for disqualification of ferrari etc. Let’s tey to think rationally. When incident happened fernando was just 1 sec or so behind button and as jenson mentioned massa went deep in to corner, so naturally lost exit gng bit wide and thus lost momentum. This allowed fernando to sneak past massa. Regatding pit stop incident, ferrari didn’t do immediately as fernando went to pits first as leading driver and so soon massa followed as it is quite normal as both team mates do pit stops with in 2-3 laps duration. Moreover massa was losing time as his tyrws seemed to gone off. Moreover both ferraris done 3 stops indicating their fast degradation. Mclaren stil had time to let massa when fernando pitted but they chose not to do and served penalty. In the end button & mclaren got penalty becoz of their naiveness/stupidity in not giving back position similar to fernando & ferrari in silverstone last yr wrt kubica.

      1. Quite a reasonable explanation, but since it is Ferrari we would demand for a DSQ:-) Isn’t it Macca fans?

        Atleast Button now knows how Alonso would have felt in Silverstone coupled with another miserable race in Valencia.

    19. you’re all missing the point which is Mclaren have a car capable of challenging which is why Button up there in the first place, no doubt he was being held up by Massa who must have known he couldnt keep it up all race so why not let Button go after a few laps, obviously just trying to give Alonso time to catch up. anyway Button had a poor start and then got held up, happens to them all at some time, he still drove the nuts off the car and under different circumstances could have been on the podium. Given the rate od development at Mclaren cant wait for next race

      1. If massa has an ‘I can’t do this all race so I might as well let him past’ kind of attitude then Ferrari should get rid of him now…
        ..and no other team in F1 should ever hire him.

      2. That is true, and it is clearly the reason Button got frustrated and let things play out this way. His team could have told him to stop being frustrated, give back the spot and go get to the race on his own pace, being way faster than either Ferrari at this venue.

        1. A driver, especially one with many years of racing experience, has to remember to stay calm and avoid red mist tendencies that are the folly of rookies.

    20. Button can’t overtake Massa, so he blame Massa for forced him off the track. Poor Button for saying that as an excuse.

    21. Button is so crap that he took the penalty and still ended up in front of Massa, it was just a simple poor call from the team made more complicated by Ferrari shenanigans.

      Vettel overtook Button by going off track but there wasn’t an investigation over that one. Alonso has also gotten into trouble doing similar things and no one creams him as inept.

      I riles me that so many of you are such experts on someone who has been in F1 12 years is in a top team and is a WDC. I wonder why that is?

      1. And Ferrari shenanigans are nothing new!

        Masters of cheating, rule bending, win at all costs, bad sportsmanship. A disgrace to sport the world over. And to think I used to like Ferrari!

        1. There weren’t really any Ferrari shenanigans here today. Just Alonso catching Button and Massa as Button went off course to overtake.

          1. Anyone seen super troopers? because ‘the next person who says shenanigans is going to get pistol whipped’ :D

          2. Other than the part where they moved Massa out of the way to let Alonso through and pitted him so Button got a drive through.

            JB should have let him straight back through then all would have been fixed, and no opportunity for the drive through.

      2. Indeed.

        It was quite interesting watching the BBC4 programs last night. In 60 years of GP, 16 champions, and one is JB.

        So I very much doubt he loses sleep over all of the naysayers and armchair experts, as he sits on his yacht in Monaco, or driving his collection of amazing cars.

        Funnily enough Ross Brawn said that in a good car, Button was so good he was as good as schumacher (i.e if the car was good enough).

        But then why would someone like Ross Brawn know much compared to armchair experts like us ? :-)

        1. How come when massa needed to hold up button so that Alono comes into play he could do so for 12 laps or so but when there is no Alonso Button gets by at the first attempt and Massa hardly puts up a fight ?

    22. This is my opinion. I believe Massa was a lot faster than he made out. His job today was to hold Button up, to allow Alonso to close after is miserable start. Massa was not out today to race, but to gift Alonso undeserved points. He put up no fight later on in the race because he’d already done his job.

      When Button cut the corner, Massa all but stopped on track. If Button ‘had’ tried to give him back the place, he would have been in no position to take it. Massa is the dog of Ferrari, poor lad. This is why team orders are bad for the sport. They take the sportsmanship out of the game.

      1. Doesn’t that aluminum hat itch?

      2. Do you really believe what you’re saying?

      3. Good point!

        1. Yes it was a good point he made. Good like Heidfeld and Barrichello’s performance today.

          1. Heidfield’s performance was not bad considering the state his car was in.

    23. I don’t see how Button can feel fustrated; he should consider himself very lucky.

      Had this been a real race track, Button would have plowed off the track into the grass, lost his front wing and probably lost control at high speed too.

      Even his staying in the race is debatable, let alone getting away without a penalty. Same goes for Massa and Algasuari who pulled a similar stunt through the parking lot.

    24. I’m a J.V.fan and a Williams fan. Biases stated. Incident took place between corner 11 and 12. There are 16 corners on the circuit. That leaves 4 more corners and 4 more straights to corner 16 to return to position. Massa makes one move to cover attempted overtake by driving to the apex and instead of breaking Button choose the runoff while about 10 car lengths from corner 12. Massa lifts while exiting corner 12 but still drives over the astro-turf. Button decides to accelerate through the run off instead of matching speed with Massa and returning to position at Massa’s rear. At the time of Buttons attempted pass Alonso appears to be about 10 car length’s behind Button and while not in the fight takes the best line through corner 12 and closes the gap to Massa to about 5 car lengths. He would also be carrying more speed out of corner and Massa would be trying to settle the car down for better control. Advantage to Alonso. I wouldn’t expect a driving partner to block his team mate. Massa did race him to corner 13 but was out of position to win at the exit. Button has already made his decision and is off down the road.
      Button’s decision to not return to his place behind Massa results in the remainder of the action that follows. He did do a brilliant save to get 6th. Kudos to his drive too bad for his red mist moment.

    25. There is only one person to blame, and isn’t Button or Ferrari.

      Stewards nedt 5 laps to decide, when almost everyone watching TV only nedt 5 sec.

      F1 needs to be quicker with deccisions. a small punishment can become huge after 5 laps

      1. I believe that all the drivers are required to know the rules not all the fans.

      2. So, Button is unable to see that he was cleary behind, but the stewards are supposed to hand out a ruling instantly?

        This blunder was 100% Button’s fault and no one elses.

        He really should apologize to the team (for blaming them) and to Ferrari (for his preposterous accusations)

        1. 7 minutes after the incident is not instantly.

          How many time they need to rewatch the overtake and tell the decission to Mclaren?, 5 laps?

          It could be worse: “Incident will be investigated after the race”

          1. Do you for one minute think racing is like football were all the action usually takes place in the vicinity of the ball and of course under the full attention of the stewards? For your information the stewards usually havde to watch a redplay of the incident, probably even after a request is made. The Button incident wasn’t the only thing happening at that moment. For all you know, the stewars probably even watch a different feed or not at all.

            1. They need more stewards, OK

              They need more cameras, videos, technologies… OK

              F1 is the top of motorsport. Result of the race can not change depending on how many time they need to decide.

              Every year a lot of points changes as result of stewards acting too slow. For me is not acceptable, but i respect if you think this just another part of the game.

            2. If Button doesn’t understand the rules then he risks being punished for breaking them.

              To follow all cars we’d need 24 stewards. Then to make sure impartiality was built in, each car should be followed by a set of stewards. Preferably 3. So that makes 72 stewards.

              Just because Button doesn’t understand that he can’t cut corners while overtaking.

            3. dyslexicbunny
              28th March 2011, 15:53

              Patrick, actually I think you’re wrong on the proper number.

              Give every driver a steward, 24 stewards. In any incident involving two drivers, you pull both stewards. Then you have “superstewards” that try to manage the whole race – say five of them. In two driver incidents, grab one.

              At most, 29! Still a ridiculous number.

    26. I agree that Button/McLaren were stupid – it was obvious he wasn’t ahead and should have give the place back right away.

      But – did anyone else notice that the next camera sequence after that showed Vettel going completely off track getting around Hamilton? He was definitely a car ahead by the time they entered the corner but he immediately went all four wheels into the tarmac runoff area.

      I think F1 would do better to eliminate the driver aids (KERS, DRS) and make all off track excursions penal (not through penalties – but through track changes). If your wheels leave the track, your time should suffer. Lower grip surfaces, speed bumps, something. There have been far too many cases of people going off track when defending and not losing any time because of the tarmac runoff right next to the track.

      1. That was Button. Same coloured cars cqn be confusing atimes. :-)

        1. Exactly. If Button had gone around the outside of Massa over the curb and asto turf through the gravel, missed the wall and passed Massa I don’t think the stewards would have objected. Instead he took the inside, cut the corner and looked very lame objecting to the consequences.

    27. Question. Do the stewards only act when an incident has been seen and analysed by the commentators?

      If you can watch Vettels overtaking of Button. Vettel drives completely off the circuit. Think DC was showing some Red Bull Bias there in the commentary.

      1. Again it is long-cuts versus short-cuts. There would seem to be little advantage from taking the long way around unless you are good enough to pull it off.

      2. Indeed, I don’t understand why Vettel and Buemi weren’t punished.

        Saying that they took the long road is nonsense. They went off-track and that’s illegal.

        In this case going around actually is the faster line too since it’s a combination of two tight bends which are then replaced by one longer curve.

    28. Ferrari messed up, they totally went wrong with their 3 stop strategy. If the would’ve done a 2 stop strategy (like Vettel, Hamilton and Petrov) they would NOT have lost 22+ seconds. So despite their strategy failure (Webber also did 3 stops), they’re in a good form.

      Fastest Laps
      1 Massa (Ferrari) 1:28.947 (lap 55)
      2 [b]Alonso[/b] (Ferrari) 1:29.487 (lap 49)
      3 Webber (Red Bull) 1:29.600 (lap 50)
      4 Vettel (Red Bull) 1:29.844 (lap 44)
      5 Button (McLaren) 1:29.883 (lap 49)
      6 Pérez (Sauber) 1:29.962 (lap 39)
      7 Petrov (Renault) 1:30.064 (lap 55)
      8 Hamilton (McLaren) 1:30.314 (lap 41)

      Full list:
      http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2011/844/6825/fastest_laps.html

      Total Pit Time
      1:44.700 Barrichello (3 stops + 1 drive through)
      1:17.709 Alguersuari (3 stops)
      1:12.437 Massa (3 stops)
      1:12.176 Webber (3 stops)
      1:12.165 Alonso (3 stops)
      1:02.851 Button (2 stops + 1 drive through)
      51.705 d’Ambrosio (2 stops)
      50.218 Petrov (2 stops)
      49.849 Sutil (2 stops)
      49.747 Trulli (2 stops)
      49.195 Di Resta (2 stops)
      49.009 Schumacher (2 stops)
      48.442 Buemi (2 stops)
      48.256 Kobayashi (2 stops)
      48.092 Heidfeld (2 stops)
      46.639 Vettel (2 stops)
      46.426 Hamilton (2 stops)
      24.865 Kovalainen (1 stop)
      23.716 Rosberg (1 stop)
      23.438 Pérez (1 stop)

      Full list:
      http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2011/844/6825/pit_stop_summary.html

      Stints:
      Vettel 0-14, 15-36, 37-58
      Hamilton 0-16, 17-36, 37-58
      Petrov 0-16, 17-36, 37-58
      Alonso 0-12, 13-27, 28-42, 43-58
      Webber 0-11, 12-26, 27-41, 42-58
      Button 0-17 (drive through), 18-19, 20-37, 38-58
      Massa 0-13, 14-31, 32-48, 49-28

      Not exactly sure about the tyre compounds, Webber did his 2nd stint on prime while the others seem to have done option-option-prime and Ferrari did option-option-option-prime.

      1. Thanks for the numbers

        1. Not convinced, they only got the two FLAPs because of 3 stopping. Also I’m not convinced that had a option of 2 stops, both Ferrari’s were sliding a lot, with the exception of Webber the most of any cars on the track.

    29. Have just watched href=”http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9437681.stm”>Martin Brundles Race Analysis video on the BBC Formula 1 website, the Massa/Button clip starts at 02:55. Massa clearly leaves Button plenty of room, and Button did not need to leave the circuit and take the short cut. This is clearly seen in the onboard footage at 04:10.

      No excuses, his mistake. He should and probably will watch it… though whether he will be impartial about it is another thing :-)

    30. I can’t see Button’s argument here to be honest. I can’t see any evidence that he was in front, and even if he was, Massa had the line and that should prevail in those kind of situations. He should of yielded straight away and he’s clutching at straws thinking it was Massa’s fault.

    31. Vettel’s overtake on button completely left the circuit to gain an advantage, taking a wider line and carrying much more speed through the corner and Button taking defensive line believing that Vettel would be using the actual racetrack. Similiar scenario at Copse corner at Silverstone at the start of the race drivers that appear to be pushed wide can keep the power on and have a greater speed when they join the track again.
      Button should have tried to take the corner he cut in the first or place or slow up to let Massa pass, even if Massa squeezed him of the racetrack if Massa did so or was deemed to be driving unsafe or unfairly his punishment would be decided by the stewards, that punishment was not a solitary reward to button to cut the corner and gain 4 seconds on the entire field Similiar scenario at Copse corner at Silverstone at the start of the race drivers that appear to be pushed. Simple answer take out run off areas and let drivers really earn their money, can’t wait for Suzuka

    32. I heard that Petrov thinks that letting a red car pass is against the rules,it first has to switch to green.

    33. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLhoFohgw1M

      It’s worth pointing out that Massa was taking an incredibly defensive line everywhere, he left Button no option but to try the outside everytime.

    34. Irony here is how Hamilton pulled off that same pass last year on Rosberg. Yeah people say that he would have lost it again in 13 without the yellow. But he got through the corners, clean. Button plunged in there with a speed and attitude that meant he either cut the corner or ran into Massa on the exit of 12. Amateurish. Button is a pro, and very intelligent, but this was some hackery. His mewling afterwards about it was distasteful. It was bad driving and bad faith argument about the rules.

      Let’s see how you do it. Class is in session:
      https://www.racefans.net/2010/12/09/vote-for-the-best-f1-pass-of-2010/.

    35. prisoner monkeys… i gotta say… wow… too bad for your buddy jb… personally i think the battle was the most exiting part of the race… it was amazing that the directors followed this highly pitched defense of massa’s instead of the front runners… i really enjoyed the moves being made by both partys! then here comes fa and now i really get hot about it… seems the pit stops were about to happen anyway… seems that TWO LAPS should be plenty of time to correct the situation which WAS a breach of the rules… instead you blame ferrari for being clever and maximizing the situation quickly.. take a reality pill buddy… racing is all out… on all fronts… did we hear ms whine too much about being tagged on the start and having to drop out? no… he simply gave his normally guarded statement to the press and is moving on to the next race… GREAT JOB FELIPE!!! WELL DONE!!!

    36. I won’t blame Ferrari as that was smart work by them.But I think given Button’s experience he should have had made a decision all by himself. I didn’t see any on-board shot but I doubt that Button had his front wing enough in front of Massa to justify his guilty.He should have had given the position back on track.I think he & the team feared that while giving that back Alonso may also come through & overtake him.

    37. Known as the race driver excuses – “he pushed me” is not a good one, you can always brake ? and avoid the shortcut. Button was obviously a lot quicker, he should’ve just returned the position, and he might have been able to overtake Massa later, as it actually happened, or McLaren should have called him in the pit, because Ferrari saw that situation and Alonso passed all the way ahead, finishing 4-th. Smarter move.

    38. To some extent its a fair cop for Jenson to get the penalty.

      Perhaps in future though, he should just drive into the side of massa. That seems to be better than trying to avoid a collision.

      massa was absolutely all of the place and nearly took JBs nose cone off a couple of times.

      Have to say though, good move from Ferrari to let Alonso through and bring Massa in as it triggered a drive through. JB should have just let Massa back through straight away.

    39. Button just isn’t good enough at overtaking.

      Massa is on a higher level than all those rookies Button managed to pass in Brazil 2009 during his “champions drive”.

      1. Quite true. I see Button complaining again this morning, but we do want to see battles, right ? He may complain to the designer of the track for not including corners suitable for his driving technique. It was the same with Alonso and Petrov in Abu Dhabi, correct ? If you are faster, just overtake him. Other matter was that Petrov was running fresh engine, whereas Alonso three races old one, so it was impossible.

        1. So one rule for Alonso because hes great (in your opinion), and one rule for button because you think he’s rubbish (engines?)

          I very much doubt todays press is anything else but what he said yesterday.

    40. The drivers know the rules and this incident will force the drivers to evaluate and decide if they have broken the rules or not. No need for a decision from the pitwall or the stewards informing them of what they already know. He had a lot of room to back out of that overtake attempt and would have kept Alonso behind him. It was the only place on this track he could have tried that move without hitting a wall. Simply put Button made an opportunistic mistake.

    41. YES (from a long time Button fan who is more frustated than Button, BUT) he made an opportunistic mistake, just like ALONSO has, HAMILTON has, VETTEL has, MASSA has SCHUMACHER has etc need I go on.

      Very rare for him, he rarely spins, rarely bins it, he’s awesome in the wet and a much better overtaker than anyone on these forums gives him credit for (passed 13 cars to take his first ever win)has a WDC and is pretty fast.

      Probably Button passed more cars in his first win than Vettel has in his entire F1 career having spent a decent amount of it in an uncatchable car.

      CAN WE MOVE ON PLEASE?

    42. Most are missing the big picture here. Fi has spent 2 desperate years and millions changing rules, cars and circuits to try to encourage more overtaking. So what have the stewards done?
      Ruined all that work by telling all the drivers that if they try to overtake – the other car can push them off with impunity and THEY will get penalised. Charlie Whiting and the Stewards should be shot for not seeing past the end of their noses!

    43. It would be easy to appoint 72 fair and unbiased stewards for each race among the members of this site;-)
      Even if I more or less belong to the “Anything but Ferrari” group, I knew Button was in for a penalty and he deserved it, probably more so than Alonso last year.
      Massa was defending hard, but that’s the racing we like to see. Regarding the overtakings outside tracks on the outside of turns, they should be prevented by making the surface outside the track more unforgiving somehow, even if its a trade off vs. safety. On some tracks even new ones, there is a wall, no run-off at all. Maybe if the re-entry area has a bump somehow it would force the driver to use the run of zone to brake and thus cause a delay.

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