In the round-up: the FIA will make the “unwritten rule” of defensive driving a written regulation.
Links
Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:
‘One move’ to be defined in rules (Autosport)
“The wording will confirm that drivers can make one move to defend their position, and must then leave at least one full car’s width of asphalt on the outside (which does not include the kerb) if they return to their racing line.”
I wrote the following about this matter in an article in 2008:
When the rules as written give so little detail, and when the stewards issue ‘clarifications’ that seem to contradict past precedent, and when controversial decisions are published with so little reasoning (the Hamilton-Raikkonen incident [at Spa] was summarised in seven words), you have to question the sense of leaving important rules of race-craft shrouded in secrecy.
Korean GP – Conference 3 (FIA)
“As I said, I really don’t know how the race is going to go tomorrow but you’d think that it would be between us and the Red Bulls. So we will have to wait and see, but I don’t think Ferrari are that far behind in terms of consistency. Over one lap they maybe don’t have the pace but in terms of consistency we saw them very strong in Suzuka so they might also be there tomorrow.”
McLaren silence Vettel’s whoop of joy (Reuters)
Martin Whitmarsh: “I have to confess, we do listen to some of the other drivers and on the monitor I have a driver-button and afterwards, when they’ve gone on pole, I have to turn it off immediately so I don’t have to hear Sebastian [Vettel] whooping it up in the car.”
Koreans play big role in F1 Grand Prix (The Korea Herald)
“Again, there will be no Korean drivers on the grid ?óÔé¼ÔÇó it will probably take a couple of years or much longer to see them in action here.”
Japanese Grand Prix video (F1)
Summary footage from the last race with a few new clips of team radio, one of which shows how McLaren were convinced Hamilton had a puncture.
Rosberg plays waiting game (Daily Telegraph)
“Our sport in the end is very unique; you depend so much on the technology that you have. For the majority of people out there it is difficult to understand that. They just see someone winning and think he must be the best driver but often that is not the case.”
“We will have a look at why Bruno [Senna] was lacking in pace, but Vitaly [Petrov] pulled a strong result out of the bag.”
Bruno Senna Birthday Messages (YouTube)
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Comment of the day
An interesting take on Hamilton’s pole position from DaveW (bear in mind Red Bull can still achieve a 16th pole position later this year):
This pole has some momentous characteristics that will make him happier in retrospect.
First, it comes in downpour of criticism, and stems another onslaught of hysterical press.
Second, it comes after two consecutive races where he doesn’t even get a second Q3 lap in, thanks, in part, to team bumbling.
Third, he is first man to pull Excalibur from the stone this year, and it was not because Vettel had some problem, besides a lingering hangover. He beat him with sheer speed.
Fourth, his pole blocks Red Bull from being the first team to achieve 16 poles in a year, defending this important superlative owned by McLaren and Williams. In an era where McLaren has not been able to add much to its trophy shelf, thwarting the fizzy drinks company from stealing another bit of its legacy was priceless. I’m sure Ron Dennis will send Hamilton a fruit basket for that one.
DaveW
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On this day in F1
Michael Schumacher made a sensation return from injury in qualifying for the 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix.
He took pole position with a lap almost a full second faster than team mate Eddie Irvine, with David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen sharing the second row 1.1s adrift.
F1Yankee (@f1yankee)
16th October 2011, 0:12
are they sure they’re reacting to the right race-craft issue? i saw nothing wrong with how schumacher defended against hamilton. and, this rule wouldn’t address running someone onto the grass or into a wall.
mwoerne (@mwoerne)
16th October 2011, 1:51
@F1Yankee- It doesn’t really matter if you didn’t see anything wrong, but many people, including those with F1 racing experience and those who’ve been in the paddock for years and years, did see something wrong. Coulthard, Brundle, Hobbs, and Varsha all said, upon further analysis, that Schumacher should have received a penalty (not for pushing Ham on the grass at Monza, but for when he did a double move before the first Lezmo). When I watched the race, with 5 other guys (only 2 of whom are Ham fans), we all agreed that Schumacher had gone over the line. I, for one, welcome this new rule. It’s a welcome addition and clarification to a very grey area of F1 rule interpretation.
Mike (@mike)
16th October 2011, 14:51
What about Hamilton moving over on Kamui?
This rule also would penalize him.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
16th October 2011, 6:14
I for one am disappointed. Pretty soon there won’t be such thing as defensive driving anymore, like Indycar.
Mike (@mike)
16th October 2011, 14:52
Agreed completely.
MattB (@mattb)
16th October 2011, 18:25
Disagree completely – Hamilton today defended completely cleanly and in line with the new regs (which have been part of the gentlemen’s agreement for years now)
bosyber (@bosyber)
16th October 2011, 6:17
I hope that it being written down will make it easier for drivers to know what they can do and what not, hopefully allowing the smartest ones to go to the edge but not over it. I definitely expect Schumacher to do that, for example.
Rammstein
16th October 2011, 0:14
There is no need for rules like the one move rule. Just let them race.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
16th October 2011, 1:57
And then you’ll complain when they’re allowed to race, but the stewards are forced to issue drive-through penalties for drivers who constantly make contact with other.
The “one move” rule originated as an agreement between drivers as to what constituted sportsman-like conduct.
Stephen Jones (@aus_steve)
16th October 2011, 5:00
we let Hamilton “Just Race” this year.. we all saw how that turned out
Patrickl (@patrickl)
16th October 2011, 10:08
Indeed we saw how Hamilton got inconsistent penalties for situations that, say, Button or Webber never get any penalties for.
It’s about time they put up some clear rules so we get a level playing field so they can finally “just race” all of them.
BasCB (@bascb)
16th October 2011, 5:46
Rammstein, I do not really like the way this rule is worded either. But fact is it has been used for years in F1 but with the expected inconsitency in its application.
Actually writing it down in the rules will at least help get that point countered, so this is a good move.
celeste (@celeste)
16th October 2011, 0:48
Sometines I think Nico Rosberg is the biggest jerk on F1… He works extra hard to made me dislike him… that or he just talks with out thinking…
David-A (@david-a)
16th October 2011, 0:58
What did he say or do?
Mustalainen (@mustalainen)
16th October 2011, 1:17
What?
aka_robyn (@)
16th October 2011, 1:59
Funny, I was about to say the same thing about Martin Whitmarsh! ;-)
But seriously: if Rosberg says he’s as good as — or better than — any of those other guys and simply isn’t in a good enough car to show it, he’s just saying what almost every driver out there is probably thinking about himself.
Maksutov (@maksutov)
16th October 2011, 2:25
i agree with that; and Rosberg has a good point, however, he used the word “often”, which i don’t agree with.
Wooolfy
16th October 2011, 0:54
This could be very unfair to any driver who is in the lime light, such as Hammie. The FIA should be considering a system where they can see and investigate all infringements and not the spectacular ones. This season besides Vettel’s domination the next biggest ‘outrage’ has been the inconsistency in the steward’s approach to investigations and final penalties.
Scalextric (@scalextric)
16th October 2011, 0:55
Ending to the FIA presser linked above made me laugh.
thatscienceguy
16th October 2011, 3:31
Help! i’m in Melbourne today for work. can anyone suggest somewhere in Swouth Melbourne to watch the race? My hotel doesn’t have One (this is the last time i let a coworker choose where we stay). is there somewhere at Crown maybe which will show the race?
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
16th October 2011, 4:48
Sorry to hear that but I hope you will find a solution in time.
Stephen Jones (@aus_steve)
16th October 2011, 4:59
find somewhere with TV’s.. there’s a sportsbar at Crown that may have it.. they might be a little focused on the Horses though..
Otherwise, find a Harvey Norman, JB Hifi or Somewhere that sells TV’s.. they normally have at least one TV set on OneHD.. if not, change it when they’re not looking!
BasCB (@bascb)
16th October 2011, 5:48
nice suggestion @aus_steve Hope this helps you in your plight thatscienceguy
BasCB (@bascb)
16th October 2011, 6:01
That FOM race edit is nice, not great, but nice. Seeing Vettel jumping his mechanics at the end reminded me of a nice tweet yesterday though.
Did any of you guys see that new helmet Rubens Barrichello got for his collection? The one signed by SV he got from the younges double WDC himself?
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
16th October 2011, 6:30
@BasCB Ha! No, that’s need to me about Barrichello’s helmet. He has a great sense of humour.
Kelly (@kelly)
16th October 2011, 6:03
My prediction is next year there will be a Korean pay drive in HRT. :P
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
16th October 2011, 6:32
@kelly If he brings they money…
Steph (@)
16th October 2011, 9:47
As he’s a competitor of RBr then I can understand why that might sicken him but Mclaren does give off a very subdued, calm, strict, sterile overtone and just once I’d love to hear a Mclaren engineer or Whitmarsh go completely crazy. JB and Ham aren’t too bad when they do well, apart from Hamilton sounds completely depressed at the minute but usually he can be chirpy.
q85
16th October 2011, 9:54
lewis was moving more than once when defending today. I think thats fine, but it was no different to what michael did at monza
Patrickl (@patrickl)
16th October 2011, 10:09
The important things is they can move back on line, but don’t have the right to run their opponent off the road. Or rather, that the penalties for defending too harshly would become equally applied to all drivers.
MattB (@mattb)
16th October 2011, 18:29
Yes, he moved more than once but only in the context of moving once defensively and then safely retaking the racing line
Fixy (@)
16th October 2011, 12:06
This shows how great Michael is (or was?). Of course I don’t want Vettel to break a leg, but this shows why Michael is rated as the best ever driver.