Hamilton to blame & a financial penalty wont be big enough

· by · in Daily F1 News and Comment. ·

‘It was all emotion. First lap. Desperation. That’s not the way to win, not consistently. Hamilton is to blame. Rosberg is allowed to protect himself. You don’t go for it on the first lap.”

…were the words of another three time champ, Sir Jackie Stewart when summing up the incident between Hamilton and Rosberg in Spain as reported in the Daily Mail yesterday.

‘It’s just completely wrong. And then to throw the steering wheel out of the car. Probably £30,000-£40,000 of steering wheel. It’s difficult for them to leave Lewis out for a race when they need to win the world championship. But there does need to be discipline.”

Stewart goes on and reminisces about his past and concludes

‘I would certainly have penalised the driver who made that mistake on the first lap. It would have to be financial. But Lewis is making such a lot of money that it might not be a big penalty to him.’

The matter has been dealt with internally by Mercedes, although it would interesting to see quite how exactly the aftershocks will shape the remaining season.

54 responses to “Hamilton to blame & a financial penalty wont be big enough”

    • Agreed. I don’t recall him being so consistently negatory aboot any other driver.
      Soor grapes (in the vernacular) – he resents his British 3xWDC crown being equalled (and, probably, eventually overtaken) by some upstart who doesn’t show the expected level of deference to the group of old farts who are running the sport (into the ground).
      I think now that Lewis has equalled JYS’s F1 achievements, that should mean that they are roughly equivalent, and, therefore, Jackie’s comments should be given no more weight that Lewis’s own opinions.
      In other words, he should just shut the feck up!

  3. JYS has never liked Lewis. Every other driver (apart from Lauda) has at least said racing incident – but most put the blame squarely on Nico…..

    • name them you out to have done those every other drivers that has at least said racing incident and most others that put the blame squarely on Nico.

  4. But of course Judge.
    Any decent, law abiding, astute, sensible, smart, awe-inspiring,enlightened, good-natured, canny, commonsensical,rational, logical and sane F1 follower agrees with the article. It is Hamilton’s fault to take Nico out of the race.

    Unless you’re a one eyed futile, ill-advised, ludicrous, shortsighted, naive, simple minded, obtuse, witless,thick-headed, non-sensical hammfosi would think otherwise.

  5. JYS: The older he gets, the better he was.

    Jackie can always be relied on to chuck at a dart at LH and fire up the easily outraged.

    I want to think he goes home after making these comments giggling to himself about the sh!t he’s just stirred. Sadly (and more comically), I think he’s actually serious.

  6. Considering the history between Lewis and Nico, it was absolutely correct to register this as a racing incident. There was no intent from either driver to take each other out, no malice but a case of two strong willed drivers committing to the same racing line simultaneously- Nico selected a slower engine mode whilst Lewis selected the overtake button. I sincerely hope Mercedes continue to allow them to race unrestricted and fans of every side will leave this incident in the record books.

    As for Jackie Stewart, we are not racing the dangerous days of the 60s and 70s, where the slightest contact had horrific consequences. His self-righteousness is bewildering and he’s even worse to listen than Jacques Villeneuve (!) Why JYS considers close contact between drivers today as the act of the devil is a story for another day.

    • If I were Lewis, I’d say to Jackie…
      “Yes, we’re both 3xWDC’s, but the difference between us is that your car is in a museum and mine’s still on the track”.

    • they both selected the same “lights-out race start modes “including pressing the “free load/boost/overtake button” after the out lap and formation lap Nico left “race start preparation” settings/modes “on”, these setting/mode is selected selected on the out lap to the grid and kept up to end of formation lap till the car is on the starting grid, this mode is called “race start preparation” the mistake Rosberg did was leaving this setting on for the actual lights off race start, all this (his mistake) did not effect his race start because within the race map, the lunch mode overrides everything else, this is why Rosberg not only had a good start off the line but had a better start than Lulu with his better reaction to the lights and foot and hand finger tips sensitivity.
      it should be noted that ECU power unit race start mapping will not allow electric power deployment and neither free load/boost/overtake to activate until 100km/h is reached.

    • Just for the records, Nico didn’t just by mistake select a slow engine mode, like how they wanted us to believe, but he decided to go “no limit hold’em”, all-in, do or die,yolo, knowing that his batteries would be dead around T3, oops..he let the cat out of the bag, now Lewis knows his game when he doesn’t get pole!!

  7. Certainly not the first time, and probably not the last time that Jackie Stewart will patronise folks in F1 with another misguided pearl of wisdom. I can respect Niki Lauda even if he’s clearly wrong, and/or I don’t agree, as he just states his opinion and moves on. JYS has an irritating habit of labouring points – just like he’s done here – and coming off as rather sanctimonious and objectionable in the process.

    Whilst it appears from the footage that Lewis had the right to move and take that line, the fact that his car was located in the right place for only a split second means Rosberg was never likely to see him coming even if he’d been looking.

    If I was going to split hairs, you could fault Rosberg for the distraction he caused – which put him in danger of colliding with cars behind, quite a lot of cars when you consider he was leading the race. However it’s surely just common sense to call it a racing incident and draw a line.

    Considering the bizarre and unnecessary approach Rosberg took following Spa in 2014, I’m surprised his scrappy driving hasn’t caused any more incidents – especially when racing for the lead from any of his many front row starts over the last few years.

    Since Mercedes have avoided anything like this for so long, I think they should count themselves lucky: racing incident, move on … plus at least we got an interesting and different race out of it, though I can understand why Lewis was so pissed off, as he really needed those points from a win!

  8. That is another load of rubbish….goodness me. lauda has stated that ‘hamilton looked us in the eye and admitted that it was his fault’. now if lauda is lying then hamilton will obviously publically dispute this!!! secondly, if you took time to actually read the stewards summary you will see that ‘rosberg was within his rights to close the door’. isn’t that enough for you? hamilton messed up and he was lucky not to get a heavy penalty. after all he hit rosberg in the first instance and rosberg was ‘entitled’ to be there.

    • how can somebody pedigree certified as a liar since 2009 be taken seriously when he opens his footinmouth infected cob? but seriously, do not take me wrong, I don’t believe that Lulu intended taking-out both Nico and himself out he just done a “stupid mistake” in trying to be in a place where he shouldn’t have been, racing drivers do not overtake by driving on the grass.

      • Why the vitriolic condemnation of Hamilton at every opportunity?
        Every driver has been known to be economical with the truth sometimes. Rosberg in Monaco springs to mind for one. Also, each driver thinks they are the best and have their own opinions about any incident. Much the same as any group of people in any job anywhere in the world.
        This constant name calling and childish squabbles between people here is getting very tedious. I am sure none of you would act this way in any argument at work or in your local bar. But, you can hide behind the anonymity of your computer or phone, which is a little cowardly in my opinion.

  9. By the time rosberg went to shut the door – Hamilton was alongside him. This he was pushed off the road. It looks like he did back off a little once off the track. And then lost control in a fashion that would take his teammate out!
    Jackie needs to shut his righteous mouth.
    Racing incident, or Rosberg at fault is the way I see it.

    Don’t know why they pitted riciardo first – red bull should have waited for Ferrari and then reacted. Or did they want vestappen to take the win??

    • “By the time rosberg went to shut the door – Hamilton was alongside him.”
      Eeeh! Sorry Hans, wrong guess !

      Hamilton was alongside Rosberg on the track for a fraction of a second. That isn’t enough to time to react and open or shut any doors and that is why the stewards didn’t punish him. Likewise they saw that Hamilton got alongside for that fraction of a second before he went onto the grass which is why he wasn’t punished. Rosberg was closing the door long before Lewis got alongside him, as by the time that happened Hamilton was at the right hand edge of the track. Racing incident all day long. The day they start punishing Rosberg for this sort of move is the day that the rules will change to say “when you see a driver approaching, prior to them getting alongside you, you must leave a gap for them” and at that point racing is dead.

      Sorry to break it to you, and I know the likes of the British F1 media love to peddle anti German stories to those gullible enough to believe them all, but this was just a racing incident.

      For the record, I tend to think JYS should probably keep quiet about these, things, as should JV. They’re both known for having silly opinions. Interesting that Lauda is saying Lewis took the full blame though, I can see why they’d expect that after Spa 14 where Rosberg was alongside Lewis and hit his car…. The relationship for the rest of the season will be fascinating. The Merc boys have really spiced up the rest of the season for me 🙂

    • if Lulu was alongside Rosberg on the racing tarmac it would have meant that Rosberg did not left him space as obliged to do and that the stewards should have penalised Rosberg, but it resulted that the stewards did not think Rosberg was at fault. actually the stewards should have penalised Lulu like they did Bottas last time. but hey this is Lulu.

      • Afternoon salvu borg. I did some checking. Lewis fans do indeed refer to Lewis Hamilton using a nickname, but it’s not lulu. Lulu is a Birtish female singer in her late 60s. The nickname you should be using, and as used by Lewis fans is LewLew. Granted it takes longer to type, but we’re all for accuracy here!

        • “LewLew”, Thanks but no thanks, it’s Lulu for me MAN, I know about “LewLew” but not about Lulu the female singer. some long time ago Lulu visited the place I come from and on a meeting with him in my presence one of his hamfosi told him that he is affectionately referred too as Lulu he smiled and said he heard about it, signed free caps for all those present and left.

  11. Kenji , where are your sources or saying Lewis looked them in the eyes and said it was all his fault..Telling Porkies??

    Because we have on – board cameras, we all clearly saw Rosberg distracted changing engine mode settings HE HAD WRONGLY SET whilst simultaneously carrying out a dangerous chopping/ blocking move to his right . Because he was distracted he was unable to judge the speed Lewis had charging behind him . It was Rosberg’s fault on multiple levels as the majority of people have said .. even though the best outcome is that the incident was deemed a racing incident because hard to see bad intent on either Rosberg or Lewis part.

    Stewart :STFU you old git!

  12. “Stupid,” Lauda said. “It’s very simple for me. It was a miscalculation in Lewis’s head. I blame him more than Nico. For the team and for Mercedes it is unacceptable. Lewis was too aggressive to pass him and why should Nico give him room? He was in the lead. It is completely unnecessary and for me the disaster is that all Mercedes are out after two corners.”

    • As I remember, this was a comment from Lauda immediately after the event, before anyone had analysed what had happened. He has been known to do this in the past, but has to change his mind later.

      • This is from Gary Anderson
        It was always going to happen. Given how closely matched Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton are up front, it was only a matter of time before there was a repeat of the Spa 2014 collision that cost Mercedes a victory. And it finally did happen in last Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix.

        I agree with Niki Lauda that Hamilton was at fault. There have been a few occasions where the world champion has been a bit brutal with Rosberg, who on this occasion held his own.

  13. It is clear that Lewis went for an all or nothing attitude.
    Fully aware that after Nico once again got him off the starting line, he would not have many chances this being the Spanish GP where it is almost impossible to pass.
    Knowing this and when Nico had the wrong engine mode, Lewis probably thought that it would still not be enough to pass him on the outside.
    So he went for the gap that wasn’t there, ruining Nico’s chance to extend the consecutive winning run.
    All in all, it was a calculated move by Lewis. He would either win this GP or he would not let Nico win, it showed.

  14. Had this Ham/Ros incident been the last lap and both driving for different teams and Ham needed the win for the title… the overtaking attempt could be mitigated… but first lap, same team, superior cars… yes a technically a non malicious racing incident but absolutely a hot headed desperate reckless attempt from Ham. He is paid too much for this kind of incident to be acceptable to merc… or even to be thought of as one of the best of the field… Kvyat was berated and demoted for the same…

  15. A big light on the back of Nicos car told Lewis exactly what was happening, he went for the gap and Nico panicked and came off the racing line. When you get on the grass only one thing is certain, it’s going to end in tears.

    • The lights on the back of the cars are a joke. Everyone always loves to point out that there are no break lights on F1 cars because they wouldn’t be recognized in time to be of any use. When you are racing at those speeds with that many people around you, you are not looking at the back of the car, you try to look for the openings and the edge of the track. Sadly for Lewis, the opening disappeared and the edge of the track appeared.

      • the big red light on both the back of the two cars and neither those on the pit lane exit had told Lulu anything in Canada, ask Kimi, Cubica, the Mercedes team, the stewards of the race at the time.
        and neither did a school play ground fence had told anything to his father about a week before the Canada GP, ask Mark Webber.

    • He didn’t panic at all, he did exactly what any race driver would do – he blocked the inside line. If anything Hamilton seemed to freeze up and kept going for a gap that was closed. Did anyone else see Carlos Sainz pass Vettel? Same lap same corner – in the same situation as the Mercedes cars – and Carlos switched over and went down the outside of Vettel.

  16. can’t we all just agree that the race was much more exciting after the first lap? i mean – there was racing at the front!

  17. I’ve never listened to quitters, JS needs to shut up, failed at running a team and now he is a expert? If he had some balls he would have kept driving, like all the others did, F1 didn’t stop because he did. Have you ever heard a team penalise a driver in the wallet? That’s one way to mince them right off, team spirit building it is not. AFAIAC Lewis saw a GAP, saw the flashing red light and went for it, just like ROS would have done also and Kimi, and Seb and the rest of the field, that’s because they are paid too. That is the instinct they have that keeps the rest of us from being as good. The rules are VERY clear, if the car comes alongside, has a PORTION of the car alongside then the driver in front MUST leave a cars width, so what exactly do we need to discuss? the pics show Lewis had his front wing alongside ( a portion of his car ) so Nico should have left the room, no, he didn’t, Lauda does he usual “listen to what I have to say from my arse” on TV and the rest of the world look at the replay in the mean time. Racing incident status means no one is too blame but I can’t see how you can punish a driver for going for a gap, at the end of the day HAM didn’t touch ROS until the car was sideways on the grass and beyond control, had he hit him first, well we all saw what happened to poor Daniil.

    • “I’ve never listened to quitters”
      That’s a really ignorant thing to say.

    • Considering JS on ran his F1 team for 3 seasons and managed to get 4th in the constructors in its 3rd season, I wouldn’t say he was a failure running an F1 team. Especially when you compare it to other ‘Private’ teams, such as Prost, who failed to get above 6th in the constructors over 5 years.

      Hamilton went all out for a gap that was immediately clear was going to close.

  18. I fully understand that some fans want to show their support for Lewis, and he is a highly paid driver in the fortunate position to be in a chapionship with only two contenders. If you are an impartial observer, it is far easier to see that Nico has Lewis completely spooked and thought he could bully him out of the way. I thought it was great to see Nico hold his ground and turn the tables on Lewis. Without a doubt Nico is more focused and deserving of the championship, Myself I think Lewis was in the right team at the right time and can never be considered a great. I especially do not like it when he tries to compare himself to Senna, very innapropriate!!

  19. Sir Jackie Stewart is unquestionably the best dressed British F1 driver ever.
    an absolute gentleman on the track… and nothing in the paddock compares
    with his immaculately tailored and laundered attire.
    His opinions command the same respect as his dapper family tartan trousers.

  20. I’m amazed at the disrespect being shown to Sir Jackie Stewart here. I think some of these folks need to have a good review of F1 history – including the 60s and 70s! Fortunately there are some great articles on this very site that they can dive into. Sure, you can disagree with his opinion but that should incude a valid reason why that pertains to the incident in question.

    • Brenb, for many, F1 started in 2007; despite protestations otherwise.

      That being said, this place is quite irreverent about all aspects of F1, which is its charm. If you’re staying, you’ll get used to it.

      Cheers,

      @WTF_F1

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.