F1 ITALIAN GP SPOILER ALERT DONT READ IF YOU WANT TO WATCH HIGHLIGHTS LATER.

Personally, I still can't see how either driver can be put at fault. Verstappen was well within his rights to make that move. If he hadn't gone for it, then people might have questioned his spirit. If they're going to start penalising drivers for trying things like that and going for gaps then we're going to get boring races. It differs from Silverstone because of the nature of the corner for a start and also Hamilton was far too shallow, in my opinion, and he should have anticipated he'd have to understeer into Max. My reasonably experienced opinion, of course.

He knew he'd have struggled to get past with DRS. He couldn't get close to the McLarens, so he would hardly breeze past the Mercs. He had to try it. Hamilton could have easily have given him more space, but it was a tricky situation. Racing incident.

Hill comes out with some corkers. Didn't he say something like he wouldn't be surprised if Max did it on purpose to take Lewis out? Come on... it could have easily ended up with Max retiring and Lewis carrying on. Hill just enjoys being controversial sometimes I'm sure. Anyway, it's done and dusted and they move on. Great title fight for a change and nothing wrong with a bit of drama to boot. Better than watching Hamilton cruise to the win week in week out. If he wasn't British people would find it much more a turn off.

 

So, lap 1 turn 4, LH is fully alongside MV, MV uses all the track pushing LH off, LH has to abort the attempt or cause a crash. LH aborts, drives over the corner and subsequently lose a place.to LN, FF to the incident, not once is MV fully alongside LH, MV has a right to attempt the overtake but as on lap 1 turn 4 LH now uses all the track so MV should have aborted and gone over the corner but no, MV decides he can take a non existent gap. When will MV realize he can`t bully everyone out the way.

 

But it doesn't work like that. If you have, in this instance a sharp right followed by a sharp left them if a driver on the left at the first corner is level or just in front of the driver on the right he can go round the outside and the driver on the right should give space for the left hander. This usually gives the guy on the inside of the left hand corner a chance of overtaking although it often fails since he is no longer on the racing line and so loses traction and the other driver probably has a highe exit speed
If you look at the incident. MV was.fully behind LH going into the right hander so should have either yeided or gone straight on and then given the position back after rejoining the track. He did neither As the stewards said Hamilton was under no obligation to leave MV room as MV had no right to try to overtake where he did. He had no chance of succeeding. Contrast that with turn 4 where MV left LH nowhere to go even when LH was alongside going into the first part of the chicane except off circuit. That the stewards deemed that as no investigation necessary I have no idea. If LH had not yielded they would have collided then. MV is a liability and inexplicably he keeps getting away with it until now.

 

I do think we are reaching a stage where every collision seems to lead to calls for penalty. Perhaps this one was deserving of one but I don't like the mindset, it's motor racing, that's the point. It's not timed laps on a empty track it's a race.

 

Did you not spot who finished third but ended up 5th?

Plus there was at least another 5 second jobbie.

 

My mind is often completely blank from watching F1, largely due to a combination of Saturday night's booze and nothing happening of note on the track.

Yesterday was far more interesting, but largely due to one slow and one semi slow pitstop. At the end the top half dozen cars had been going round as though they had all been told to keep their distance from each other.

 

It was absolutely the correct call. I'm not sure how anyone expected Lewis to navigate the chicane otherwise, not without taking a strange line and doing it at 2mph.

 

Pères off the top my head had the time Pen that gave Bottas 3rd though that was 100% a correct penalty.
I just mwnt as a wider point and a mindset of everyone to call for penalties much easier than they used to. Maybe I'm just remembering things through Rose tinted specs.
I just don't want to see F1 be sterilised. Wheel to wheel racing isn't always fair, the fastest car/driver doesn't always win.

 

The worst thing about the Perez penalty is that he effectively was allowed to continue to hold Bottas back for the remainder of the race. Had Bottas got through I reckon he'd have potentially won or came second. As a McLaren fan Im glad he didn't!

 

That sort of situation can be very frustrating I agree. I'm not so certain he would have myself. He may have had a chance on the fresh rubber but let's not forget, neither Verstappen or Hamilton had any joy getting past the McLarens. They had just enough pace it seemed to make track postion king.

 

I like Monza as it often throws up random winners, like Vettel in the Toro Rosso in 2008 (I think), Gasly in the Alpha Tauri last year, Leclerc the other year, and now Dani Ric this year.

Unlike Russia, next up. Nine GP's there, all won by Mercedes Benz.

 

Win 100 for the GOAT.

 

Bottas been very strong in Russia previously and looked mighty at Monza with the pressure off.