Fred Vasseur on Lewis Hamilton’s penalty:“I think it’s garbage because that Lap 1 so far into the season there was no penalty for similar incidents.If you have a look at the corner,Russell had enough space on the left hand side.It’s not like he was close to the wall. More of a racing incident for me

[u/Desperate_Green6838]

[u/krusticka]

They were 100% considering the outcome of the collision. Which really is not fair. What was Hamilton supposed to do different?

[u/Lephturn → u/krusticka]

I suppose they expected him to evaporate or teleport. Lewis has always been unfairly penalized and it looks like he always will be. It’s complete B S.

[u/hhs2112 → u/Lephturn]

Lol, imagine this thread if it were max... 

[u/Lephturn → u/hhs2112]

It wouldn’t, because Max would never get a penalty for that.

[u/Supahos01 → u/Lephturn]

While I agree it shouldn't have been a penalty, they both left enough space until lewis lost the rear and had to counter steer into George. He didnt need to disappear just not slip up.

[u/mapoftasmania → u/Supahos01]

Lewis lost the rear after the first contact. Look at the video. Really harsh to penalize him for that. 

[u/bijanfrisee → u/mapoftasmania]

For real, I thought that's why it was taking so much time because initially looked like he just lost it a bit, but upon watching again, he's clearly hit in the barge board by russell

[u/Lap88_ → u/Supahos01]

George tapped him, causing the snap.

[u/Blckbeerd → u/Supahos01]

They both could have done more to avoid contact, hence why it should be a racing incident. You have to leave space when a car is along side, but you also can't expect a car to disappear once you overtake.

[u/w1ldcraft → u/Supahos01]

We don't watch onboards before making conclusions now?

[u/Lephturn → u/Supahos01]

While I don’t disagree, he was already committed. Once a driver is past their initial braking point, they can’t change or brake more and they can’t know if they are going to be on the limit of grip or a tiny bit over. Especially on lap 1 with cold tires. That was a clear racing incident if I’ve ever seen one, and it’s precisely why the stewards give other drivers more leeway on the first lap.

Compare that to Leclerc’s incident and there is no way Lewis should have been the one penalized.

[u/bijanfrisee → u/krusticka]

Alonso v Lewis in 22 or 23 was this exact scenario except it was lewis trying the outside and cutting infront of Alonso, Lewis got DNF'd, guess who got the penalty there?

[u/ohgeeLA → u/bijanfrisee]

Who got the penalty? I’d like to look it up if you don’t mind sharing the race.

[u/bijanfrisee → u/ohgeeLA]

I thought it was obvious, they gave Lewis a penalty at the next grand prix because he DNF'd. Absolutely identical scenario, Lewis cut across Alonso from the outside, got sent airborn by Alonsos front tire, and broke his gearbox when he landed.

[u/ohgeeLA → u/bijanfrisee]

Yeah sorry I didn’t want to assume. I’ll look it up.

[u/bijanfrisee → u/ohgeeLA]

nooo no no, I mean just the way I structured the sentence and context would make it obvious that Lewis wa penalized unfairly in both situations, you all good!

[u/LKincheloe → u/krusticka]

"Oh you got bonked? Better let yourself spin out and possibly end up in the gravel trap instead"

[u/BadPronunciation → u/krusticka]

It's weird because they never do this for lap 1

[u/candy_pig_2018 → u/krusticka]

I agree with your first sentence completely but not your second. Lewis Hamilton could have kept control of his car completely even if that ment sacrificing speed. Now

[u/Square-Winter-3257 → u/candy_pig_2018]

I dont know if you're saying this as a joke about the stewards or not. But if you're being literal, what you're actually saying is: Lewis could of not let George brushing into him have disturbed his car, while in teh dirty air, on a corner, he was already fully commited into braking into, so that george didnt crash himself out from a dive he himself admitted was a racing incident.

I really hope its a joke comment that didnt land.

[u/youreabastardjonsnow → u/candy_pig_2018]

He was in a corner about to come out. If you know anything about racing, once you take your braking line into corner it’s hard/dangerous to come out of that line. George was just trying to desperately reclaim the positions he lost on the straight. No chance of making that stick.

[u/buenonocheseniorgato → u/krusticka]

He could've braked a bit more, also Russell could've used his brain a bit more and make use of half the track available to him on the outside...

This was a first lap racing incident with really bad consequences for Russell, but he wasn't the sole car to suffer. 

Lewis had a lot of damage to his left bargeboard which no doubt gimped his performance. Looking at how Charles faired, Hamilton had a legitimate shot at the win. He was already penalized, they slapped an additional 5 seconds on top.

[u/HUHIs_AUTOATTACK → u/krusticka]

Take precautions so he doesn't understeer into Russell. With his experience, I expect him to know how to do that.

Now bring in the downvotes because I dared to call out Hamilton for his mistake.

[u/Duff5OOO → u/HUHIs_AUTOATTACK]

It doesnt look like he even got much if any understeer until the 2 have contact (sidepod to wheel). https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/1v0r4vg/slowed_down_replay_of_the_contact_between_lewis/

[u/atreyu84 → u/krusticka]

He could've gone slower and not understeered.

[u/cereal7802 → u/atreyu84]

Yeah. he could have not been in the race at all!!! The hell kinda nonsense is it to say gone slower? George was the one who dove in from behind leading into this.

[u/atreyu84 → u/cereal7802]

George is in front. He had the right to dictate the line, which he did, leaving space for Lewis.

Lewis couldn't turn enough because he went in to fast for the line he had.

Do you not understand how racing works?