'Let Them Race' - Changes in Race Stewarding Philosophy

[HustleRussell]

I am conflicted about the stewarding decisions made at the weekend.

I was willing Leclerc to win

However, he;
-Left the track and gained an advantage
-Moved very late in turn three afterwards
-Failed to leave a car's width when a significant portion of a competitors car was alongside (fully alongside in this case)

I like the return of the black & white diagonal flag for driving standards, but in full view of the above it looked a bit lenient on its own. I would like to see it awarded for things like the late defense- 'The stewards deemed that you moved too late into that corner on that lap, no harm done, no contact, however be aware that if you move that late again you will face a penalty up to and including disqualification from the race'. I feel that this approach would've dealt with young Verstappen quite effectively. He would've been black flagged on at least one occasion by the end of 2017 and if he came home pointless he'd have probably quickly learned his lesson.

In my opinion one could argue that the squeeze on Hamilton and the excursion across the sausage curbs at T2 could've attracted a more severe, race result influencing penalty. I don't see how the latter is so different to- dare I say it? Seb in Canada.

I do not subscribe to the 'Ferrari International Assistance' stuff because I haven't really seen it, not in the time I have been keenly following the sport.

That said, I do feel that in most circumstances Charles' indiscretions would've resulted in at least one penalty... perhaps if it hadn't been the leading car, which did happen to be the Ferrari on this occasion. At home.

I also don't know how to feel about the way the stewards awarded penalties in varying degrees considering the outcome. Surely the offense is the offense, and taking an outcome-based view will make offenses more likely and- in the extreme- encourage drivers who perhaps don't have much to lose, or want to make a point- drive in such a way so as to create an 'outcome' from an offense?

Vettel and Stroll both spun. Vettel's spin was his own fault, Stroll's spin was caused by Vettel.
Both drivers rejoined unsafely. Vettel's unsafe rejoin resulted in contact. Stroll's didn't.
Stroll's unsafe rejoin could've / should've resulted in contact had Gasly not made the absolute maximum effort to avoid it.

Same offense, either one could've resulted in contact or not depending on external circumstances.

Masi said that Leclerc would've had a penalty for squeezing Hamilton had contact been made. You can be certain that with that in mind Hamilton would be sure to make contact should the same situation arise again.

If this is the direction it is going, this will either culminate in a golden era of hard racing complete with wheel banging etc etc, or a frustrating period where certain drivers take certain liberties removing themselves and other competitors from the race.

[HustleRussell]

HardtopManual said:

ash73 said:

As well as no movement in braking zones, I think they should be required to leave a car width on entry AND on exit if there's an overlap. I don't like the inside car running the outside car off the track on the exit, claiming he "took the racing line". I'd rather see them side by side through the corner and exit.

But if you're on the outside at corner exit, you've already lost the corner. You've decided to prioritise corner speed over defending. If you don't want to get pushed off the track at corner exit, defend the inside rather than leaving the door open.

I don't agree with Ash's interpretation but HTM's doesn't really work. Inside / outside will flip about as soon as you encounter a series of corners.

[HustleRussell]

Kraken said:

Thing which comes over from reading a lot of these comments is that people seem to forget that cars have brake pedals as well as accelerator pedals. A driver is perfectly capable of pulling out of a move if the gap is closing. If there was a wall, a gravel trap or wet grass I guarantee they would be pulling out and no-one would even mention the "incident".

That's only true to a point, the driver has generally committed to and fixed his trajectory around the corner and his track-out point at the moment he applies the brakes. They aren't driving around leaving sufficient reserve capacity to 'slow down more' or tighten his line if the other driver is moving about under braking, turning in on him or trying to tough it out around the outside despite having lost the place.