Tyre management ‘is not racing’ – Hamilton

F1 Fanatic Round-up

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In the round-up: Lewis Hamilton says the constant need to manage tyre degradation has a negative effect on racing.

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Like fathers, like sons?
Is there too much nepotism in Formula One?

We talk about pay drivers all of the time, but we never seem to complain about sons of successful fathers doing well. It’s not the same as crappy pay drivers getting onto F1, but it is similar in a way. I hear Mick Schumacher is the next on the radar.

Is the sport so elite now that you can’t get in unless you have a father to show you the ropes? I am not saying that Verstappen, Sainz, Rosberg and Palmer (sort of) aren’t good drivers, but for sure they got the training of their fathers and good F1 contacts to ensure that they rose the ranks quickly.

It just seems that you are either a pay driver or a son of someone important these days. There are only a few that get in by talent alone without either money or good pedigree.

Just over half of the drivers either didn’t get here solely because of money or a father in the know. And this is the most talented field that may ever have graced F1. All I can say is that my dad is a bad dad for not being in F1 in his lifetime. Damn him for being one of the best marine engineers in Australia. I could have been one of the greats I tell you!
@MickHarrold

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Hamilton Wc 09, Juan Pablo Heidfeld, Tom Lim, Shaneb457, Chris and Mike Shefford!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is via the contact form or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Five years ago today Jenson Button became the first driver to lap the Mount Panorama circuit in Australia, home of the Bathurst 1000, in a Formula One car as part of a publicity stunt for McLaren:

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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141 comments on “Tyre management ‘is not racing’ – Hamilton”

  1. Hi Lewis, welcome to the club, glad you feel secure enough to speak out, I’m with you all the way, I might even become an LH supporter.

    1. @hohum – He’s been reading your posts. :-)

    2. ColdFly F1 (@)
      22nd March 2016, 6:16

      But we know it’s nonsense what Hamilton said. When he was on SS at the beginning he could not get past Verstappen either, and he gave up just as quickly even though the Mercedes was 1.5sec faster in training and he had 2 DRS zones.
      At Albert Park it is just a bit harder to overtake, especially with the current cars.

      Therefore, my vote yesterday went to a driver who actually did do some overtaking rather than complaining.

      1. indeed @coldfly, its a bit of an overstatement from Hamilton to talk about “cutting through the field” as he was never overtaking anyone.
        I seriously doubt he was even trying to save his tyres until the guys mentioned to him that if he cannot do it on track, they could opt to extend his stint and go for a one stopper.

      2. @coldfly The endless lies to big himself up like this is so extremely tiring and frankly embarrassing. Have there ever been such a vainglorious driver in F1? How can anyone be a fan of that?

    3. I agree with Lewiz, push these tires to hard for a few corners… As in trying to mount an overtake.. And they are gone.

    4. I totally second that! I hope it lasts!

  2. I agree we shouldn’t be complaining about Verstappen, and in fairness to him, he was much faster.

    The only problem is I feel like getting frustrated and angry is a bad way to approach it as it leads to getting impatient and making mistakes like his spin. I feel that he should try to keep much cooler in the car. That said it’s so nice to see somebody who is clearly motivated and wants to fight!

    1. @Strotium I second your thoughts.

      Don’t understand the complaints from some about Verstappen’s aggression and tough talk. #F1 already has its quota of well-behaved robots.

      The complaints come from jealous people, keith.

      1. @peartree That was what I thought as well. I think that some fans clearly feel that Verstappen could beat everyone else in a few years, including their favourite driver.

        1. Verstappen’s worst enemy right now is himself. Last year, he refused to get out of Sainz’s way when the team told him to do so– this year, he expects Sainz to get out of his way. That makes him a hypocrite. His aggression and anger led to him damaging his car, and potentially costing both he, and his teammate (and therefore his team), points.

          This is professional racing. If you can’t be professional, you should go back to the minor leagues.

          You want fistfights in the pit lane? Go watch NASCAR.

          1. You want fistfights in the pit lane?

            Verstappen complained about his team’s strategy a few times. Equating that to starting a fistfight is sheer hyperbole.

          2. Well, their strategy was crap… Learn from Vettel on how to complain about poor team strategy.

      2. @peartree

        It’s funny how in an attempt to favour a driver with ‘personality’ fans have suddenly resorted to a whining kid. It’s incredibly hypocritical when the same fans have bashed Vettel for forcing team orders, and have made numerous ‘Fernando is faster than you’ jokes are now saying ‘Good on you Max!’ . Vettel overtook Webber in Malaysia after failing to get the team’s support in getting him to move over and he was made the villain. Alonso was fighting for a championship in which he asked the team to let Massa to move over, and suddenly he was half the driver he used to be.

        Yet, Max Verstappen, the teenage personality of the f1 paddock gets stuck behind his teammate, curses on the radio constantly, fails to overtake his much ‘slower’ teammate and spins in the process is now the greatest thing since sliced bread and a charismatic personality that is really needed in the sport.

        It’s not like I’m not happy to see a hungry 18 year old with immense talent on the f1 grid, but I don’t know how anyone can think that he handled himself as anything but a primadona and petulant child.

        1. +1 to that. I am not sure why he felt entitled to the place on the first race of the year. Like everyone told earlier when Alonso/Vettel were involved, if you are faster, then overtake.

        2. I fully agree.

        3. Totally agree. Not to mention, he also ran into his teammate.

          1. Nail, Head, Hammer, Hit !

        4. @todfod I find it interesting that you are comparing Max from this weekend to two WDC’s, SV and FA. And are you sure it is the same fans that bashed SV and FA that now idolize MV? Was Max really ‘cursing on the radio constantly?’ Should he really have just been able to pass CSjr or was he frustrated by the dirty air effect that LH was also frustrated by? A really unfortunate by-product of today’s form of F1 racing is that sometimes in order to get by you can’t just race your way by…just ask LH from the last races of last year where he had to resort to whining to his team for extreme strategies that didn’t exist, to get by NR. Only on that case LH hadn’t really ‘earned’ the right to get by NR, the pole sitter and race leader, whereas Max felt cheated by the team and circumstances of the red flag after starting from a really exciting spot on the grid.

          Personally I think Max’s heat of the moment comments, as usual hand selected by F1 for us to hear when we heard very little in general all day, merely showed heat of the moment frustration. It’s for he and the team to sort out this kind of stuff, but generally speaking, and away from the heat of the moment that even experienced WDC’s are prone to, Max has only shown himself to be mature beyond his years and with quite a level head and with everything in the right perspective.

          I just think it is folly to write the guy off as a ‘primadona’ and a ‘petulant child’ over some heat of the moment comments from one race that was ultra-frustrating for him given what he had achieved on Saturday, and given that some would even say to have what it takes to be a WDC is to have a big ego and be selfish and ruthless.

          Many applauded SV for ignoring his team as it was seen to them as WDC level determination, and FA was on a one-rooster team when they hung FM out to dry.

      3. Because it’s the actions of a spoilt child. You don’t have to behave like that to not be a robot you know.

    2. first of all there is no proof that max was faster in race and second let me ask you, did you have same opinion when max was asked to let sainz thru last year ? or just this time ?

      1. @f1007

        there is no proof that Max was faster in [the] race

        Yes there is.

        1. that hardly counts as proof, unless you add another dimension to account for laps while directly behind another driver.

          Hamilton could have been the fastest in clean air that day, but he could have easily finished in P7 behind Max. F1 has made it very difficult to overtake since last year, due to aero limitations and the lower nose. The tires are a part of the equation, but really, it’s almost impossible to pass unless you have much better grip, or the guy in front makes a mistake.

          Look how much slower Lewis was compared to Vettel before Seb got with in 1.5-0.5 seconds of Lewis, then Vettel had no answer, just to spin out and get 3rd. It’s like all the gimmicks to try and make over taking possible, are just excuses to make the competition and overtaking even worse.

        2. @keithcollantine no there isn’t, going faster in clean air when carlos was stuck behind traffic hardly counts as proof and a weak argument. Lewis was stuck behind max for few laps, are you going to “prove” max was faster ?? lol

        3. The great graph made by you shows Sainz is within 1s of Verstappen in the first 7 laps after the restart.
          I don’t want to say… you should be more neutral.

    3. @strontium Let us not forget that Verstappen is still only 18. He is very mature and very focused for a teenager. Yes, he probably let his emotions get the best of him on Sunday but that will change. I am pretty sure his attitude will get more level-headed as time goes by.

    4. petebaldwin (@)
      22nd March 2016, 14:37

      @strontium – Totally agree. Best thing was that people were complaining about it saying that he was acting like a “spoilt teenager” and that he should take a lesson from his more experienced colleagues in how to behave. :D

      If I asked you to pick the 3 drivers most likely to have a moan over team radio, who would they be? Ok, now tell me what these drivers all have in common?

    5. How do you know he was faster ? want to bet Carlos will score more points over the whole season ?

    6. This is why I’m a Kimi fan. No crying.

    7. I like Max a lot but his comments are not making any good to his image, I hope he cools down a little bit and delivers next time. Both Max and Carlos Sainz Jr have immense talent and have a lot to learn, competition is good but you must manage you hunger and anger…

  3. I can’t agree with Max Moseley’s comments that Alonso’s accident may have been fatal 15 years ago, seeing as Jacques Villeneuve had a crash as horrendously violent in the same spot exactly 15 years ago with no injuries. And 20 years ago with Brundle. Which is incredible that the cars have been so safe since the events of Imola ’94, and we do have Moseley to thank for that. It’s incredible how safe the cars have been for 20 years on the whole, it’s mind-blowing that drivers can walk away from each these huge shunts as mentioned above.

    1. Moseley didn’t initiate any safety measures he just followed the path of least resistance.

      1. RaceProUK (@)
        22nd March 2016, 0:56

        He created the Advisory Expert Group, which is responsible for the vast improvements in safety, and he also pushed for greater safety on the public roads by backing initiatives like Euro NCAP, an organisation he chaired for its first seven years. Hardly the ‘path of least resistance’; in fact, it could be argued few have done more to promote and improve safety in motoring and motorsport.

    2. @unicron2002 Villeneuve’s crash was actually less violent in that he hit the fence rather than the concrete wall which took away a fair bit of energy & he also slid along the wall the right side up until he was a long way into the runoff & by the time his car dug in & rolled he’d lost a lot of speed so that part of the crash was also less violent.

      Brundle’s back in 1996 looked spectacular but he never really had a big impact against a barrier, It was more similar to Alex Wurz’s flip at Montreal in 1998, Spectacular & scary to watch but ultimately fairly tame because there was no big hit.

      Alonso’s crash was far more violent because he hit the concrete wall without scrubbing off that much speed & he went into the gravel trap as much higher speed which meant that the way the car flipped was much more violent, Especially when it dug in the 2nd time & was thrown higher into the air & cartwheeled. Its also worth considering that Alonso also had a secondary impact against the tyre wall at the back of the gravel trap which is actually what stopped the car from rolling again.

      1. If Alonso’s car had of dug into the gravel nose first instead of tail first, I bet that he would still be in the hospital. It was a nightmare crash and I actually have to say that I am rethinking my take on gravel traps. We are lucky not to have lost a champ.

      2. Peppermint-Lemon (@)
        22nd March 2016, 21:37

        If memory serves me correctly, that 2001 race signalled the end of Mika’s confidence after his car speared into the barrier following suspension failure, coupled with the JV crash that sadly killed the marshal. I’d say Alonso’s crash was far worse and TBH I thought he’d been killed until he got out.

    3. The 2001 J.Villeneuve – R.Schumacher crash was NOT injury free — it resulted in the death of a track marshal when one of the wheel tethers failed and the tire got through a gap in the fence, striking the marshal.

  4. COTD, well Mick, F1 is not the only field where family and contacts help. Going into the family business is a great way to succeed, just look at the Rich List.

    1. It is interesting that arguably the two best, most accomplished drivers in F1, come from modest backgrounds and would not be there without sponsorship from McLaren and Red Bull when they were young.

      1. ColdFly F1 (@)
        22nd March 2016, 6:21

        There are more coming from modest backgrounds and doing quite well (MSch, RAI, VER, HAM, etc).

        There is one common denominator in all good F1 drives, and that seems to be start karting early. And there might be a bigger link anything else.

        1. & for that you generally need £££ and have to start stupidly young.

          Im not sure what can be done to make it possible for older kids (16+) when they can try to pay for it themselves, once they can get a job to get into motorsport. I have always found it unfair that basically you have to have well off parents to stand a hope in hell of getting started let alone getting anywhere in motorsport. I can’t talk for europe but that is certainly the case in UK.

          I used to work for a company in Hook that make Go-karts and run go karts for kids(& adults) around the UK and its 100% the case if you haven’t got the ££ you aren’t getting very far!

          If i was a millionaire (i wish) i would set up some tracks that allowed well behaved teenage kids in all schools in the UK to apply for track time on circuits. I bet you would find some amazing talent!

          1. Just like any other sport these days.

          2. q85 you made me laugh… Is the UK not part of Europe?

          3. This is the reality of modern sports. What is important is that kids have fun doing something active. Growing up, I loved watching motorsports, but it was skateboarding that allowed me to push myself hard and develop my sense of self. F1 is a rich man’s toy, and probably always will be. A Timex tells the time as well as any Rolex.

        2. I agree that starting early is a bigger component than having wealth or not, for while there have good drivers from humble backgrounds, many drivers who had money or sponsors have been very sucessful (Lauda, Senna, Alonso, who has the Santander backing).

          1. yes but shouldn’t the opportunity be for all or for those that want to push for it. The drivers that many claim come from a humble background, ok not super super rich some of them but they certainly aren’t your normal kids.

            Sadly as i said its only if your parents can afford to put you in a kart at some stupidly young age you probably know no different.

            Great for those that can. I’m just a dreamer i suppose that would love to see every kid & young adults have a fair crack at it

  5. What is ironic about Lewis’s comments about tyre management is that I was JUST watching my season review viedo of 1985 (because I’m a F1Fanatic of course) and race 1 Rio was narrated by Prost, the winner. Corner 1, loses a place to Senna but doesn’t care because he says he is managing the tyres. He then slowly picks off the guys in front as his tyres come into their own. Wins the race and credits his car and tyre management.
    Has F1 changed? Or have we changed? Thoughts?

    BTW he credits his team for a fast pit stop of only 11 seconds!

    1. A different kind of tyre management though, like in Moto GP, get the tyres up to temperature before you thrash them or all that sliding about on cold tyres will wear them out faster than if they were up to temp. That is slow, linear, degradation, not fast and over the cliff degradation. They didn’t call Prost the Professor for nothing.

      1. @terry-fabulous, @hohum is Correct & that’s what the current drivers dislike about the tyres… Not so much that they wear or can’t be pushed 100% for 100% of the time but more that they give the drivers less feel & lose performance in a faster, less predictable way.

        There will always be some level of tyre management required & its unreasonable to think that in the past there wasn’t. The difference today is the way they need to be managed (And indeed the fact that they are designed the way they are) & how little feel & feedback they are giving the drivers because unlike in the past the wear isn’t compound based its thermal based.

        When the wear is purely compound based you can feel it & get a lot of feedback about what level of wear the tyre is at, But with thermal degredation you can’t really feel it… You know the tyre is outside the operating window but as a driver its impossible to know if its because the tyre’s too hot or too cold & by how much so you don’t know if you need to push a bit harder to build temperature or slow down a bit to cool it down & this is the primary reason the drivers have become so reliant on tyre temperature data be it via radio or now via the dash display & why laptime & sector deltas have become so important, They find a speed that keeps the tyres in the temperature operating window & try to stick within it.
        The other spin off issue is that because the degredation is thermal if you overheat your tyre you lose performance & life which you will never get back. In the past if you overheated your tyre you backed off for a lap or 2 to cool it down & got the performance back without much of an impact on the stint length of the tyre.

        1. @gt-racer Thanks for such a scientific explanation…. makes a lot of sense

        2. That is a fantastic reply, great detail, thank you! I appreciate the essential difference between the different types of tyre degradation now as well.

          Not meaning to start a fight, just putting this out there.
          Is it possible that the reason why the current drivers don’t like it so much, is partly that they want to just go flat out, and also that they just aren’t as good as Prost? Maybe when one of them works out the best way to manage the Pirellis and starts winning all the races and multiple titles, the whole equation will change?

          1. @terry-fabulous The drivers will always want to push as close to flat out as possible for as long as possible, One of the frustrations of recent years has been that they virtually never get to do that because of how big a factor management has become compared to what it was prior to 2011.

            As to your 2nd point, There are drivers on the current grid who are good at car/tyre management, Maybe not at a Prost level but even back when Prost was racing not many drivers were as masterful in that aspect of the sport as he was & thats why he got the name the professor.

            Going back to my last post the biggest issue with the Pirelli philosophy of thermal degredation is the lack of feel/feedback they give the driver so the best way of managing them is all data based & car based, There isn’t a lot the driver can do in terms of figuring it out better than another because the only way to manage them is to keep them in the operating window & the best way to do that is to monitor the tyre temperature data.

          2. Well explained… But that is their design, so more or less they are inherentlly poor for racing.

        3. This is why I come to F1fanatic… great stuff.

  6. I don’t really think there is a problem with the sons of former drivers. Few disagree that Rosberg, Magnussen, Palmer, Sainz or Verstappen don’t deserve their seats. CS and KM are both FR3.5 champions, arguably the best junior series in those years, while Palmer is a deserved GP2 champion. They are worse drivers than them named Haryanto (he at least has a nice fanbase), Ericsson, Gutierrez and Nasr. IMO those are the drivers that shouldn’t be in F1 rather than the second-generation ones who has proved they are worth a try at least.

    1. If FOM put grants in place to reward young proteges, then there would be no need for “pay drivers”. If Bernie really wanted to secure his legacy in the sport, then he would leave a couple of hundred million to make this happen. I will not be holding my breath.

      1. petebaldwin (@)
        22nd March 2016, 17:31

        @ferrox-glideh – Bernie doesn’t want to secure any legacy – he recently said he wasn’t bothered if kids watch F1 because they can’t afford a Rolex.

  7. Also, how good was Button around Mt Panorama! Awesome Day!

    1. Damn, missed it ! Link ?

      1. Hiya!

        This in onboard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4XVF3jJL5Q
        This is a nice overview of the morning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5Zeou2lxZI

  8. That Honda PU really looks tiny. I’m guessing whatever secrets they might have had have now been exposed pretty spectacularly thanks to the chassis being helpfully removed from it!

    1. One Pu gone though.

  9. So many things to flame in this roundup. I wish there were more nice people and news. Judging by that tweet, even Keith can’t tell the difference between an independent individual and a petulant ungrateful self-centered child.

    1. RaceProUK (@)
      22nd March 2016, 0:58

      Not everyone thrives on hatred.

      1. It’s a curious (and strange) development nowadays that expressing a negative opinion or criticising something or someone is now classed as “hatred”.

        Where’s the hate? Are people calling for Max to be burned at the stake? Are they sending unpleasant letters to him? Get a sense of proportion, please.

        1. RaceProUK (@)
          22nd March 2016, 19:16

          Where’s the hate?

          My first clue was this sentence:

          So many things to flame in this roundup.

    2. @Biggsy. Spot on. If its entertaining, right or wrong seems less important. Follow that direction long enough and you end up at Beverly Hills Housewives. My vote for COTD goes to you.

    3. petebaldwin (@)
      22nd March 2016, 17:33

      Out of interest, do you also call Alonso, Hamilton, Vettel and Kimi “petulant ungrateful self-centered children” when they whinge over the radio?

  10. I think Vestappen is suffering from being 18 to be honest. I am not a fan of how he’s handled it at all, but I certainly can see why he has felt as he has. But I don’t like when he says “I don’t care” because he should, whether he knows it or not he’s in a team. The Australian GP was disastrous for Torro Rosso and if they want to avoid a repeat then they need their drivers to be on good terms. Carlos will never ever let Verstappen past if this is the attitude he takes. And vice versa. So I feel like he’s stabbing himself in the foot. Maybe they need a bit of Ferrari’s the team is more important than the driver drilled into them.

    As for the F1 driver vote, I kinda wish we could see how many votes each driver got. But, I think it’s fair to say Grosjean is a very worthy winner. And I suspect maybe it’s smarter not to open it up to the inevitable torrent of criticism.

    1. To the Max !
      22nd March 2016, 3:31

      Why is it all down to Verstappen when Sainz was the one who ignored a team order (he has admitted himself he did, source : The Dutch motorsport.com) ?

      Verstappen isn’t going to trust Sainz any more after the second time Sainz has been playing a backstabbing trick (first time in Singapore, asking to let him by while not being faster, and now ignoring letting him by while Verstappen was faster (they have an agreement that faster driver is allowed to pass by))…if anyone has shot himself in the foot it’s Sainz, he can forget going to a team where they demand that from their drivers (Red Bull).

      1. I did say vice versa… And also the bit about Ferrari style was at both. Certainly it takes two to tango.

        I am focusing on Max because, well, that’s what I was reading about.

      2. I think you should start reading other sources apart from Dutch websites “to the Max” and get a more balanced picture of the situation.

        1. @bascb Unless you are Dutch too you have no idea how biased they are. According to some mid-2015 he had already signed a contract with Ferrari if I’m correct…, and they were also evaluating his chances on the title this year..

          1. Well, I am dutch too @xtwl, and while i sometimes read Dutch sources, I tend to take all sources with a healthy dose of scepticism based on where they are from (i.e. Dutch hyping up Verstappen, saying VdGarde was absolutely right or Italians saying Ferrari REALLY has the pace this year or Bahreini sources telling us everyone is looking forward to the GP in peace etc.) and based on their previous hit-record.

            There are only so many sources that really do investigate their stories (and many do not seem interested), but reading more things at least makes you see some of that. And surely reading it in english should not be an obstacle for the Dutch @xtwl.

      3. Because Max wouldn’t let him through at a previous race despite the fact Carlos had for him (similar to the red bull situation at moncao.. except both their drivers did what they were told).

        So tit for tat why would Carlos even consider to let him through??

        1. @BasCB, I can only read Dutch, so of course for me it’s just f1fanatics.nl.

          @q85, at the previous race (Abu Dhabi) Verstappen did let Sainz go by because he was faster at that time. In Singapore he did not, because Sainz wasn’t faster…2 totally different situations.

          1. try AmuS (German) for stories eminating from RBR and Mercedes, try Adam Cooper, motorsport.com etc. You can easily use google translate to get an idea of what it is about. As for Dutch sites, the dutch version of gp-update is not too original but ok for news and not too biased etc.

    2. According to Twitter users, who apparently did some research, it was also possible to vote for ‘Boaty McBoatface’ or Rubens Barrichello and the end result was so skewed it was most probably not even possible to draw the rightful winner.

      They obviously need to change the voting system. You should have an f1.com account to be able to vote (once) and maybe they should also select only 6-8 potential ‘drivers of the race’, instead of all 22. By using common sense, you can normally tell, which drivers are going to battle for the DotW award on F1 Fanatic.

    3. Maybe he doesn’t care so Red Bull let him out of his contract and he can move onto either Ferrari or Mercedes?

    4. Sidepodcast revealed that you can use Web Inspector to count the votes. Someone did.

      https://twitter.com/TimCbe/status/711634891184738305/photo/1

      Clearly, either someone bombed the poll (understandable, given someone managed to SQL inject Boaty McBoatface into the list) or there was a culture effect.

      Obviously FOM need to revisit this and present a short-list with justification for their inclusion.

  11. Well… Lewis could’ve fitted super softs and push like hell all race long, like Vettel did, but look where that got him :P

    1. I am laughing out loud!

  12. its kind of funny that lewis doesn’t mind fuel saving which is also “not racing”, coz they have advantage PU wise. Hypocritical.

    1. petebaldwin (@)
      22nd March 2016, 17:35

      Where has he said that? I presume he was asked about tyres and gave an answer rather than calling a press conference to make a vide range of points….

  13. I have also found some “complaints” about Verstappen more like insults, which is quite common on the Internet nowadays, especially on the Facebook.

    But nice person=well-behaved robot?

    If our world don’t appreciate “well-behaved” anymore, we will certainly have a worse world.

    If you look closely, almost all the established drivers do not like robots, you can see their different characters.

    1. Those subtle differences always escape Keith, but he does seem to have a real talent for deleting all the posts which show any kind of character similar to what he is praising Verstappen for.

      1. ColdFly F1 (@)
        22nd March 2016, 11:18

        Those subtle differences always escape Keith

        IMO not the best way to make your point Biggsy.

        I like this site because commenters can share views and opinions based on good arguments and robust assessments.

        But just putting a bullying statement like that I consider as childish as some of the car2pit snippets we heard over the weekend.
        I’m confident @keithcollantine can take it, but not a good contribution to the discussions here.

      2. Maybe a server problem on your end?

      3. What an obnoxious comment. If Keith’s not doing a good enough job in your (rather unpleasant) mind, why not start your own website, where you and you alone control what people can or cannot say?

        If you don’t like what Keith’s doing, find somewhere else to hang out. I doubt anyone would miss you.

    2. petebaldwin (@)
      22nd March 2016, 17:37

      And almost all (top) drivers throw their toys out of the pram when they don’t get their way. Alonso in 2008? Vettel (multi 21)? Hamilton on more occasions than I care to remember? Kimi when he told his engineers to leave him alone?

    3. nice person=well-behaved robot

      That’s not what I wrote.

      1. You would properly agree that the majority of the F1 driver generally are nice persons, but a quota of these are well-behaved robots according to your twitter. I don’t mind that you defend Verstappen, but when you slash other drivers in the same sentence your are putting Verstappen above the others, and that is wrong, because he certainly behaves questionable, although it may be entertaining.

  14. How embarrassing for Verstappen. Not necessarily his mistakes on track, everyone knows from experience how you can get lost in the heat of the moment. But now with a cool head even he is not admitting his mistakes, let alone apologising. It’s clear for everyone to see from Torro Rosso’s statements.

    If he keeps this up he’ll end up with nick names such as Nappy Verstappy.

    This is not the first time his ignorant and arrogant character has shone through, many times last year he has been excused as being just young, which is fair, and fair for a few years yet to come. But I can’t see it going well for his short-term plan of getting to Red Bull.

    1. Honestly, I liked the guy most of last season. He made some rookie mistakes and was a little immature, as expected by a 17 year old, but he had racing prowess and a bright future. But as we’ve seen at the highest level of most sports, mental toughness and emotional stability is key when the talent pool is really high. That is still an unproven for Verstappen, and honestly, the way he conducted himself on Sunday was just ridiculous.

      People have used the ‘toys out of the pram’ statement for Vettel and Alonso in a past, but Verstappen broke his toys, wailed and spun his pram and continued to cry and wail post pram.

      I really hope Sainz is on it in Bahrain, if he outqualifies and out races Verstappen in Bahrain, I’d love to see what Max says in revert to his ‘I’ll be miles ahead’ statement.

      1. Yes exactly I agree with your comments :) I probably should have prefaced that he is one superstar of a driver I have no doubt, and that move on Palmer was simply mind-blowing. Very few drivers (if any) could brake that deep and still keep the car straight and in front around the outside like he did. He definitely has amazing skill with the machinery.

        But again as you say, whether that will be enough, we’ll have to wait and see. Shaping up to be a cracker of a season on multiple fronts :D loving it.

      2. Max’s “miles ahead” statement was mistranslated/misinterpreted by motorsport.com. He was referring only to this race: without the slow pitstop, he would’ve been miles ahead and team orders would be a nonissue.

      3. Max’s “miles ahead” statement was mistranslated/misinterpreted by motorsport.com. He was referring only to this race: without the slow pitstop, he would’ve been miles ahead and team orders would be a nonissue.

      4. petebaldwin (@)
        22nd March 2016, 17:39

        @todfod – You say “at the highest level of most sports, mental toughness and emotional stability is key when the talent pool is really high” and yet our reigning multiple world champion is someone who loses a second a lap if he has an argument with the missus or falls out with his dad….. Just saying! :)

        1. petebaldwin (@)
          22nd March 2016, 17:42

          Also, if Verstappen broke his toys, what did Alonso do to them when he shopped his own team to the FIA or Hamilton when he cheated in Australia and lied about it?

          What happens when Hamilton ends up in last place? Does he fight back through the field or give up and ask to retire the car? I think I know what Verstappen would do!

    2. For me the take away from this is that if I was a driver and became his teammate I’d be pushing his buttons every chance I got. He makes mistakes when he’s angry and that could be used against him by a wily opponent.

  15. “I don’t want to make any excuses, but the last red flag was in 2009 if I’m not wrong.”

    Japan 2014, Malaysia 2012, Canada 2011, Korea 2010 mate.

    With that being said, it is a huge pity that Vettel didn’t win (never thought I’d say that). It would have been an explosive start to the 2016 season with Mercedes beaten in the first race. I’m still convinced that this season will be much better than last year. I forsee another 1986.

    1. Monaco 2013, GB 2014

    2. @kingshark How was your shoe btw? Did you boil or grill it before eating them :)

      1. Make sure that the blender is still under warranty…

    3. @kingshark I read the tweet and was like, ‘let’s scroll down to see who already posted a list’…

  16. Well, few words I never want to hear from a racing driver.. “tell him to move out of the way”

    Or like Lewis was crybabying “cannot get past this guy”

    Bleeh. Man up overtake. But Lewis was a good sport in comparison, trying to find setup solutions or strategy.

    Max was being a child… That would be bad for a grown man, but in reality he is 18 his brain is still developing and will take atleast 4-5 years to get out of his teen rage. Give him a break.

    It was kinda funny, but ultimatley #3 team finished p9 and p10. Plenty to rage about.

    1. @jureo Maybe I’m being pedantic, but in most countries 18 is the age you are officially deemed ‘a man’. He’s legally culpable, he no longer needs his dad to sign stuff for him and he can make his own personal decisions how to lead his life. Any mental development now comes about as a result of experience, not puberty hormones.

      Hopefully, for his sake, this was all in the moment and he will look back on his words and realise he was wrong (or it was at least 50:50). What may well happen is he will stoke this fire internally and it could all spiral out of control, especially if his dad doesn’t tell him to calm down and accept he can’t win them all.

      If he doesn’t learn and just gets angry, we could be facing down the barrel of another Maldonaldo.

      1. Well it is well established especially in males fully responsible behaviour part of the brain does not develop until well in to the twenties… Judging by racing driver standards maybe not even then..

        So he is not a grown man, is he responsible for his actions in the court? Yes he is. Can he overtake at 320 kph, yes he can… but his brain is still developing at accelerated pace and there is still much hope he improved in the mindful responsible way.

  17. As for the COTD, I do not think that it has ever been much different. A lot of successful F1 drivers have either come from wealthy families or had some connection to motorsports. For instance, Emerson Fittipaldi’s father was a motorsports journalist. Fernando Alonso’s father was an amateur kart racer. Jackie Stewart’s family were car dealers. For sure, we all know the stories of Ascari, Villeneuve and Hill.

    The same thing happens in the “real world”, too. If your father has been a successful businessman, it is more likely that you will become an entrepreneur, too. Many people keep fighting for equal opportunities and I truly support the efforts of politicians like Jeremy Corbyn or Bernie Sanders. Unfortunately it is not that simple to implement a true meritocracy and it does not even matter if we talk about becoming an F1 driver or simply getting a job for living.

    1. My thoughts, better expressed by you!

  18. maxcryerstampado
    22nd March 2016, 8:18

    He is the copy of his father Joss Verstappen, he has copied all the bad arrogant and spoilet brat from his father, not even all this years retired had make him humble enough to teach his son the humble way. And to add more spice to the thing, he has te media publicity for being a teenager. So its a explosive combination.

  19. Verstappen’s comments are the result of three factors. (1) He is 18, (2) he has grown up fairly privileged and (3) he has spent his whole life, and in particular the last year, being told he’s the best thing since sliced bread. He simply can’t compute why things didn’t go his way on Sunday.

    I’m not annoyed that he said those things on the radio, in fact it made good telly and as many have said we have enough PR-bots on the grid already, it was the fact that he felt he was justified in thinking that Sainz should simply pull over and let him by when he did the exact same thing to Sainz last season in Singapore. He can’t chose to ignore team orders when they aren’t in his favour and then expect his team mate to tow the company line when they are.

    Oh and by the way, his opinion that he “should normally be miles ahead” of Sainz is clearly false. Sainz more than kept him honest last season and will do so again.

    1. As I said in my reply to Todfod above, Max’s “miles ahead” statement was mistranslated/misinterpreted by motorsport.com. He was referring only to this race: without the slow pitstop, he would’ve been miles ahead and team orders would be a nonissue.

      1. That is probably true, but he does have to shoulder a bit of blame for coming in unannounced even if the team did mess things up a bit.

        1. I agree, that wasn’t very smart of him.

  20. I think there was some miscommunication between Max and his engineer Xevi. Max asked if he could have a try to overtake “him” and Xevi said yes. But I think Max meant Palmer (which would imply that Sainz would need to let him past first), but Xevi (like pretty much everyone else) thought he meant Carlos. That would explain why Max had to ask it repeatedly and Xevi then said “just do it”.

  21. I’m a Max fan but I don’t like what he did. (Although it did feel Senna-ish to me. He also always wanted to be the very best and if things went against him, he would easily feel wronged and get very frustrated and agitated and sometimes do crazy things, e.g. crash into Prost. Back in the day, they aired less team radio.) I understand Max’s frustrations, because until that point he was doing great and was winning the intra-team battle. But I think he should’ve kept his head cool and approach overtaking Sainz the same way he does with others, not rushed but intelligently, often setting up an overtake several corners in advance. It’s more difficult to overtake an identical car, but Sainz had brake-lock issues and was being held up by Palmer, so I think there would’ve been opportunities there.

  22. Fudge Ahmed (@)
    22nd March 2016, 10:58

    I’m all for brazen characters in sport but the fact is Max’s overconfidence is unjustified. Both in the face of his relative performance to Sainz last year (who suffered the lions share of reliability issues) and in the face of his infamous “NO” when the team asked him to move over under similar circumstances last year.

    ‘Miles ahead’ is a pigheaded statement, i’ll be rooting for Sainz until he shows some humility.

  23. What worries me about Verstappen, is that his immature attitude and behavior – which we clearly saw on Sunday can impact his driving skills – will ultimately prove a danger to other drivers on the track. Its all well and good to put his bad traits down to his age, but when traveling around a circuit at 300km/h with 21 other drivers, a certain amount of maturity and responsibility is definitely required.

    Just my 2 cents for the day!

    1. Any actual data backing that up?

      Alonso crashed into Gutuerrez in the same way Verstappen did into Grosjean last year, yet no one says Alonso is a danger for other people.

      Clipping your team mate rear tyre isn’t exactly ‘being a danger to other people on the track’.

      1. @paeschli “Clipping your team mate rear tyre isn’t exactly ‘being a danger to other people on the track’.”

        My dear fellow, I never made reference to that incident, or indeed to any one incident, in my post. I am looking at the bigger picture here, and only expressing a personal opinion.

      2. Yeah, I noticed the similarity to the Monaco crash too. Max was penalized for it. Not Alonso, even after admitting it was his fault. Double standards. If Verstappen would shout something like “GP2 engine! Argh!” like Alonso did, everyone would say he’s showing his age or that he’s an arrogant spoiled kid or whatever. I don’t agree with Max’s behavior this race, but the best racers aren’t usually the nicest people on track (e.g. Senna, Schumacher, and, to a lesser extent, Vettel, e.g. remember his “Tough luck” when he was asked to let Ricciardo pass when they were on different strategies).

  24. At first I assumed that quote from Verstappen on motorsport had been taken out of context in typical sensationalist journalist style, but from reading the full article that doesn’t seem to be the case. Max makes some very arrogant statements in that interview and is extremely dismissive of his teammate. Confidence is fine, and I have no problem with him getting fiery in cockpit after a few things go against him but if he keeps up that attitude he’s going to turn a lot of fans against him (myself included). He may well regret those comments later this year as from the evidence of 2015 he won’t often be “miles ahead” of Sainz.

  25. It’s funny coming from Symonds. A team well-known for their mind-boggling strategy choices.

  26. No one talking about how Haryanto won the driver of the day award?

    1. Falsifiable metrics :)

    2. 150,000,000 Indonesian fans ?

  27. Regarding Channel 4 and it’s lower figures.
    Maybe C4 should look at promoting when the upcoming shows are on when you visit the formula one part of their web site? I had a brief visit before the race weekend and I struggled to find the information about any upcoming shows and gave up. Yes, there are plenty of other TV guides out there, but it’s just poor when you can’t add show times to the home page of the program that you are about.

    I went back today to double check today and I still can’t find out when they are due to show any live races on their own web site. There are easy access to the previous run shows and highlights, that I may well go back and watch, but nothing for what it coming up.
    Now C4 may not be keeping up to date news on F1 like the BBC\Sport section would, but at least put something useful on there or you will not get anyone (casual sport fan) bothering to tune in.

    1. Edit: Now I can see it at the top. But showing just the next practice session isn’t enough if you only want to see qualifying and the race.

      1. OK more searching and I found an official web site: http://f1.channel4.com/
        That’s a lot better than http://www.channel4.com/programmes/formula-1/

  28. Man with those noncorrective glasses, Lewis speaks quite correct on subject of racing.

    Why dont strategy group talk to drivers .. Imagine tenis racket makera not consulting tenis players on racket sizes?

    1. They all wanted bigger rackets until their lack of foresight messed up their sport for a generation.

  29. Any sport is similar. I was a good swimmer (several years, daily), and when I was 13 I asked (well, my mom did) if I could federate. They did not make me a test, see me swim, ask anything but my age. I was denied on the basis of being too old. Thirteen…

    Same goes for other non-sport things like music (I know, from my sister, that in the conservatorium you get pressed to put the practicing as a higher priority than, for example, your high school studies and tests to access University).

    Basically elite trainers are there to make a star. They want full dedication and care little how many average, slightly brilliant and actually quite ok candidates they burn on the way.

    And like I told my own sister back at the day, you may keep with the violin, but you are one broken wrist away from a career game over. Or you can be an engineer, doctor, economist… bad wrist or not, unless it is too late.

    1. Max Verstappen was interviewed ahead of the season by Radio 5 Live and he said he basically didn’t finish his final years of compulsory schooling because of his racing.

      Yes, he’s educated enough to survive, talented enough to compete and with a financial nest-egg from his parents to live off if it all goes wrong, but it does seem (speaking as a parent of two younglings) slightly neglectful of Jos and his wife to not give Max the ‘look, education is actually important’ pep-talk.

      Obviously we’re not talking PHD-level aeronautical engineering like Nico Rosberg, but the guy has zero further education prospects – it’s just all racing, racing, sim-testing, PR, a bit of time with the girlfriend (also a kart racer, I believe), racing etc.

  30. ALO has had 15 years of nearly spotless driving. And just after last weekend crash he went on the press admitting that perhaps he misjudged the braking.

    We are still waiting for VES admitting any wrongdoing in Monaco (it was ‘clearly’ GRO’s fault…), and with this weekend he has visited the back of other car at least twice in one season+1 race. Add to that some not so kind moves (according to RAI), and honestly in China I remember one of his acclaimed overtakes basically forcing a Sauber to park the car to not crash and end the race for both.

  31. Max is spoiled, but the team have made it what it is, it seems to me. They let Max defy them last year, and then this race they didn’t explain why they gave his teammate the undercut (that we heard), so that Max lost confidence in them and took matters into his own hands with the unexpected stop.

    Then they seemed to be wavering over telling Sainz to move over, which raised the frustration level even more. I don’t feel Jos The Boss being in the garage is helping either, with the sense of being too special to be told.

  32. Alonso’s crash would not and wasn’t fatal 15 years ago! Martin Brundle same corner in 1996 https://youtu.be/ausUoOEeGHc?t=80 Villeneuve in 2001 (a marshal lost his life) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMmw7jSvTtM and Schumacher rolled it in turn 6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbgGO_2vAxw all OK!

    Just another Safety Sally trying to push for the ridiculous halo that F1 doesn’t need! All drivers should stay in the garage and drive the cars remotely with a Playstation controller with be another bright idea the Bernie and the crew will come up with to “spice things up” for the fans to enjoy because then “THAT will be real racing”, I look forward to the day :(

    1. It’s less a Safety Sally, and more Max Mosley again trying to retain some form of relevance in F1.

  33. Flying Fiddlers
    23rd March 2016, 17:14

    I’m afraid Lewis that managing tyres is part of racing…….if you don’t believe me….try racing without them. Best regards

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