The Official 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Thread **Spoilers**

[Vaud]

768 said:

They were racing and Schumacher didn't deliberately drive into him.

To be fair, I'm not sure I've seen anything quite like it on the track either. Schumacher trying to find Coulthard in the pits was about as close an incident as I've seen to it.

Schumacher into Villeneuve in 1997? That was a racing speed as well.
Piquet/Renault fixing a race with a deliberate crash?
Senna on Prost?
Irvine's dangerous driving in (1994?)
Early Romain Grosjean - banned for kamikaze moves
Maldonado in 2011 (and his prior non f1 incident at Monaco)
Scheckter was black flagged in his first F1 race for dangerous driving (ok, this was the 70s)

I'm surprised by the hyperbole on this thread, some people are either new watchers of F1 or have short memories, there have been many worse incidents than this...

Edited by Vaud on Wednesday 28th June 18:37

[768]

Vaud said:

I'm surprised by the hyperbole on this thread, some people are either new watchers of F1 or have short memories, there have been many worse incidents than this...

You're missing the point.

This isn't worse, it's just not quite like anything else I've seen. It was at 30mph, not in the heat of racing, behind a safety car, after a shunt.

Not worse, not a threat to life, just a remarkably petulant move of a type I can't remember seeing.

[Vaud]

768 said:

You're missing the point.

This isn't worse, it's just not quite like anything else I've seen. It was at 30mph, not in the heat of racing, behind a safety car, after a shunt.

Not worse, not a threat to life, just a remarkably petulant move of a type I can't remember seeing.

Ah, okay, that is clearer, I understand your point.

[thegreenhell]

Vaud said:

janesmith1950 said:

FIA have announced they're looking into the incident. This is what happened with Schumacher in 1997...

Imagine the fall out if Vettel has all his points this year removed.

Ferrari will threaten to walk.

1-3 race ban, suspended for x races, at a guess. Punishment but no immediate outcome.

This would be my guess at the worst possible outcome for him. They're highly unlikely to do anything that spoils the championship battle.

[ajprice]

Vaud said:

768 said:

They were racing and Schumacher didn't deliberately drive into him.

To be fair, I'm not sure I've seen anything quite like it on the track either. Schumacher trying to find Coulthard in the pits was about as close an incident as I've seen to it.

Schumacher into Villeneuve in 1997? That was a racing speed as well.

Not on the track, the reaction in the pits, barging through to the McLaren garage with full intention to get fight.
https://youtu.be/Zm4PFEE8C3o

[HustleRussell]

I didn't realise that the phrase "I've never seen anything like it" was so easily misunderstood.

768 said:

Vaud said:

I'm surprised by the hyperbole on this thread, some people are either new watchers of F1 or have short memories, there have been many worse incidents than this...

You're missing the point.

This isn't worse, it's just not quite like anything else I've seen. It was at 30mph, not in the heat of racing, behind a safety car, after a shunt.

Not worse, not a threat to life, just a remarkably petulant move of a type I can't remember seeing.

Thanks 768, saved me typing it.

[Vaud]

HustleRussell said:

I didn't realise that the phrase "I've never seen anything like it" was so easily misunderstood.

Well it's a broad statement open to a wide range of responses

[Doink]

If they bumped wheels during green flag racing on corner exit or in a braking zone we'd be cheering the pair of them, this was different in the sense that the cars weren't racing and were meant to under controlled SC conditions and he did it in a fit of rage and premeditated

[Crafty_]

Todt wants to give Vettel a slap over the wrists, a nice "donation" to the road safety fund and x hours "community service" doing road safety campaigning.

I'm more shocked that Todt is getting off his derriere and doing something, I think it must be the first time since he became President..


The biggest problem I have with Vettel was the fact he lost his temper in very short order and then acted upon it.
Does that mean he'll start banging wheels when he's in a wheel to wheel battle and doesn't get his way ?
Can the other drivers trust him wheel to wheel ?

Edited by Crafty_ on Wednesday 28th June 19:08

[Vaud]

Doink said:

he did it in a fit of rage and premeditated

I doubt it was premeditated, but fit of rage/annoyance would seem accurate.

[JonChalk]

768 said:

Not worse, not a threat to life, just a remarkably petulant move of a type I can't remember seeing.

Stefan Mucke,
Daniel Ticktum

Both guilty of petulant, deliberate attempts to drive into a competitor who they thought had "done them wrong".

Different scales of incident (to each other & Vettel). Different / inconsistent levels of ban.

Suspect FIA too scared of Ferrari to do anything meaningful.

[anonymous-user]

It's worth putting some money of Giovanazzi driving a red car in Austria...
Some more points for Seb's license (and subsequent race ban), or a 2 race ban perhaps. It'll be interesting to see what the further FIA investigation throws up.

[Doink]

fuelracer496 said:

It's worth putting some money of Giovanazzi driving a red car in Austria

I doubt it, a spokesman for the FIA said that evidence was being evaluated and a decision on whether more action is needed will be made before the next race at the Red Bull Ring, doesn't mean he'll be banned for Austria only that they'll know by Austria whether they'll punish him or not, a court date might be another 2 months

[Vaud]

Gaz. said:

HustleRussell said:

I didn't realise that the phrase "I've never seen anything like it" was so easily misunderstood.

You mean deliberately misunderstood surely?

Gaz, you are back! I've genuinely missed your contributions to F1 threads.

In this case, through either speed typing/reading or tiredness, or both I can assure you that I did not deliberately misconstrue or misunderstand.

[Crafty_]

Just thinking, how sneaky do we think the FIA are ?

Vettel is at 9 points on his licence, so if he's naughty in Austria he gets to sit out a race. His oldest points came from the British GP last year, so by the time we get there he'll be down to 7.

What if the FIA say they will hold a hearing for "bringing the sport in to disrepute" or whatever. Time this for after Austria and give him (say) 4 points. This leaves him on 11 points until October (he got 2 in Malaysia last year, for punting Rosberg), so one little transgression and he gets a race ban. Remember, Hamilton got 2 points for backing up in the pitlane, after a session had ended, under the direction of a marshal. Vettel would have to be whiter than white for the rest of the season.

[carl_w]

janesmith1950 said:

FIA have announced they're looking into the incident. This is what happened with Schumacher in 1997...

Imagine the fall out if Vettel has all his points this year removed.

Seems unlikely. The Schumacher/Villeneuve incident was the last race of the season, so removal of all points just meant he finished nowhere instead of 2nd. I think Benetton kept the constructors' points and hence the appropriate money from FOM/Delta Topco

[anonymous-user]

My bet is lose points from Baku.

[ukaskew]

janesmith1950 said:

My bet is lose points from Baku.

Seems the logical outcome. It doesn't have a severe impact on the championship but sends a strong message.

[RB Will]

Vaud said:

Then you can't have been watching F1 for long.

Senna on Prost?

etc

That's 27 years ago lol

[Doink]

My ideal outcome would be disqualified from Baku and a 1 race ban

Remember he's already walking a tightrope because of his rant at Mexico twice telling the world that Charlie whiting should f*** off, after vettel wrote an apology to Charlie and to the FIA Todt decided then, "on an exceptional basis", to take no disciplinary action against the four-times world champion but the FIA made clear any recurrence would trigger a summons to its International Tribunal.