[tccox]

Loved the results. Outstanding race

[3798j]

Some great passes in this race. Wonderful viewing.

[ashtaron14]

RIC had some crazy follow-dart-passes. I'm glad that HAM & ROS looks less unhappy being on the podium together, because it seemed that they forgot it's the podium for a while.

[DieGrüneHölle]

Ha, Rosberg got some more boos on the podium.

[Parkanzky]

My wife and I attended the race and just got back to our hotel for hot showers before a nice dinner. I thought the race was fantastic. We were in the Alta Velocita stands, which are on Primo Valiente. Tons of great passing happened in that first chicane. Drivers were blowing the turn all weekend (in the support races as well) and Alonso's car blew up right in front of us. All-in-all, a successful weekend.

[solstice]

Second time this year where Rosberg lead the race and use the slip road to ignore a corner and maintain race lead. FIA need to put an end to this since it's now part of Rosberg's tactics. Drive through penalty would be suitable ruling when a slip road or runoff is used in this manner.

[Parkanzky]

Originally Posted by solstice

Second time this year where Rosberg lead the race and use the slip road to ignore a corner and maintain race lead. FIA need to put an end to this since it's now part of Rosberg's tactics. Drive through penalty would be suitable ruling when a slip road or runoff is used in this manner.

I don't know how many times it was shown on television, but just about everybody locked up and skipped Prima Variente at least once. Hamilton did it as well.

What I think they should do is make the de facto penalty higher, instead of using more official penalties (which I think are disruptive to a good race). If they made the escape route longer so that it couldn't be taken without losing time, then nobody would go that way and gain an advantage.

[solstice]

Originally Posted by Parkanzky

I don't know how many times it was shown on television, but just about everybody locked up and skipped Prima Variente at least once. Hamilton did it as well.

What I think they should do is make the de facto penalty higher, instead of using more official penalties (which I think are disruptive to a good race). If they made the escape route longer so that it couldn't be taken without losing time, then nobody would go that way and gain an advantage.

Very good suggestion and I agree 100%. Though I also think there is a difference between "everybody" and the race leader. It isn't pretty when you can maintain race lead by skipping a corner after over cooking it unless you are 30s or so ahead. Designing the slip road or runoff to make you lose more significant time would be the best solution. I guess this is what the bollards are there for but it isn't enough, obviously. They probably need to put sections with sand in there to make it efficient enough to be feared and at the same time be safe.

[quicktwinturbo]

Fans were against roseberg.. Wow... Anyway, I def noticed a lot of tension between those two drivers. Another boring race imo, but that was expected from this season...

[pioneercrazed]

Originally Posted by Parkanzky

I don't know how many times it was shown on television, but just about everybody locked up and skipped Prima Variente at least once. Hamilton did it as well.

What I think they should do is make the de facto penalty higher, instead of using more official penalties (which I think are disruptive to a good race). If they made the escape route longer so that it couldn't be taken without losing time, then nobody would go that way and gain an advantage.

That is awesome that you were at the race! I've heard of all the races, Monza is right at the top of the list due to the atmosphere alone. Sounds like amazing seats as well.

Did you see Kvyat's off at the first chicane? I have no idea how he managed to save that...

[E90SLAM]

Thanks Stealth again for starting the link! I was going to send you a PM about that but somehow bimmerpost app for my iPhone didnt work.

Good to be back home and caught half of the race. This time Nico's mistakes under pressure finally cost him the race win. Although Hamilton would've catch up with the better use of prime tires. The several laps before Nico's mistake, HAM was catching up 0.3-0.4 seconds a lap.

Although Lewis was the only one on the podium who doesn't speak Italian, Nico seems like public enemy now. Still head a few boos during his interview with Alesi.

[954Stealth]

Nico's the new Vettel! lol do you guys remember the fans that would follow Sebastian around from circuit to circuit and would boo during the post-race ceremonies?

No problem @E90Slam I like these as much as the rest here so it's fun to keep them going.
Will you be around for Singapore?

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by 954Stealth

Nico's the new Vettel! lol do you guys remember the fans that would follow Sebastian around from circuit to circuit and would boo during the post-race ceremonies?

No problem @E90Slam I like these as much as the rest here so it's fun to keep them going.
Will you be around for Singapore?

Yep, I should be around. No more travel plans for a while.
Three trips across the pacific in one summer drain the hell outta me.

I gotta sit back, relax, and enjoy the racing.

[ashtaron14]

Welcome back E90SLAM

Lets hope for more good races ahead of us.

[GTB/ZR-1]

Originally Posted by 954Stealth

Nico's the new Vettel! lol do you guys remember the fans that would follow Sebastian around from circuit to circuit and would boo during the post-race ceremonies?

I actually find myself feeling pity for VET these days. RIC is making him look like a rank amateur, when he was just supposed to be his #2 helper.

A true fall from grace--so far, at least...

[ashtaron14]

RIC was awarded the Trofeo Bandini for a good reason
http://www.autoblog.com/2014/09/07/d...dini-official/

I love VET. RIC just has a good sense for the Turbo car.

RIC - VET

RIC - RAI

[inline sex]

Very good race it was awesome watching Perez fighting for 7th towards the end

[Parkanzky]

Originally Posted by pioneercrazed

That is awesome that you were at the race! I've heard of all the races, Monza is right at the top of the list due to the atmosphere alone. Sounds like amazing seats as well.

Did you see Kvyat's off at the first chicane? I have no idea how he managed to save that...

Yes! It looked like he was going to have a huge crash. I was holding my breath.

[SenorFunkyPants]

Yeah that was an amazing by Kvyat save after a nasty brake failure.
Also the designated escape route for both chicanes does take longer than the normal race line, if instead you jump the "sleeping policemen" you must not gain an advantage or make an improvement in time for that sector - else take a penalty.

[Chihuahua]

Originally Posted by Parkanzky

Yes! It looked like he was going to have a huge crash. I was holding my breath.

Me too. Did anyone else note the brake dust pouring out of one of the FI cars on the last two laps? I think it was Perez's car; I thought he was next to have total brake failure.

[acediac]

Did anyone else think that Nico made those two "mistakes" on purpose? I just get the feeling that he just pretended to brake too late, knowing that he could just shave a few seconds off each time, and hand Lewis the lead without being overt about it.

Consider this:
1) First time he did it, Lewis was catching up and overtaking Bottas, and this was after Nico had pulled a few seconds on the two of them.
2) Second time Lewis was behind him, but still too far for DRS, and Nico was nowhere near under immediate threat to be "forced" into overbraking. Also, he didn't even seem to try to turn in, almost like he was already committed to going down the escape road as soon as he started braking. It's very unusual to start braking so late as to miss the turn-in by such a huge margin when not under pressure, so it's much more likely to be premeditated.
3) Both merc cars were on the same strategy with tires within a lap of each other, and Nico was pulling away initially, but seemed to stall when Lewis started fighting back up through 3rd and 2nd, when he should have been pulling away even more. It was still halfway through the race, not like tires were going off.
4) He seemed to stay with Lewis reasonably after Lewis got ahead, so it's not like Lewis had a huge speed advantage, and they finished the race 3 seconds apart.
5) At the post ceremony interview, he was very quick to just say it "didn't work out, congrats to Lewis", and didn't elaborate any further. He also didn't seem too upset about not winning, on the contrary seemed a bit relieved.

The Spa incident was definitely an error of judgement by Nico, no question, but he needed time to review the video and accept that conclusion. I doubt he did it on purpose because the more likely scenario would have been a damaged front wing that needed to be changed, while Lewis romped away. As it turned out, he was the big benefactor of his own mistake again, just like Monaco.

I wouldn't be surprised if Nico decided to try and alleviate some of his guilt and some of the team and public pressure on him by handing Lewis a win, but in the back of his mind knowing that he would still be second and still have almost a race win worth of points in his bag. Maybe he even told Lewis of his plan in a private chat, but I doubt that because Lewis would have blabbed to the press about it.

I'm not a fan of either driver (though I respect Lewis' speed and Nico's strategery), I'm just wondering if other people had this feeling too. In the end though, I doubt this will change anyone's opinion towards Nico.

[Parkanzky]

Originally Posted by acediac

Did anyone else think that Nico made those two "mistakes" on purpose? I just get the feeling that he just pretended to brake too late, knowing that he could just shave a few seconds off each time, and hand Lewis the lead without being overt about it.

Consider this:
1) First time he did it, Lewis was catching up and overtaking Bottas, and this was after Nico had pulled a few seconds on the two of them.
2) Second time Lewis was behind him, but still too far for DRS, and Nico was nowhere near under immediate threat to be "forced" into overbraking. Also, he didn't even seem to try to turn in, almost like he was already committed to going down the escape road as soon as he started braking. It's very unusual to start braking so late as to miss the turn-in by such a huge margin when not under pressure, so it's much more likely to be premeditated.
3) Both merc cars were on the same strategy with tires within a lap of each other, and Nico was pulling away initially, but seemed to stall when Lewis started fighting back up through 3rd and 2nd, when he should have been pulling away even more. It was still halfway through the race, not like tires were going off.
4) He seemed to stay with Lewis reasonably after Lewis got ahead, so it's not like Lewis had a huge speed advantage.
5) At the post ceremony interview, he was very quick to just say it "didn't work out, congrats to Lewis", and didn't elaborate any further. He also didn't seem too upset about not winning, on the contrary seemed a bit relieved.

The Spa incident was definitely an error of judgement by Nico, no question, but he needed time to review the video and accept that conclusion. I doubt he did it on purpose because the more likely scenario would have been a damaged front wing that needed to be changed, while Lewis romped away. As it turned out, he was the big benefactor of his own mistake again, just like Monaco.

I wouldn't be surprised if Nico decided to try and alleviate some of his guilt and some of the team and public pressure on him by handing Lewis a win, but in the back of his mind knowing that he would still be second and still have almost a race win worth of points in his bag. Maybe he even told Lewis of his plan in a private chat, but I doubt that because Lewis would have blabbed to the press about it.

I'm not a fan of either driver (though I respect Lewis' speed and Nico's strategery), I'm just wondering if other people had this feeling too. In the end though, I doubt this will change anyone's opinion towards Nico.

I'd say there's basically no chance he did it on purpose. You don't get to be a Formula 1 driver by atoning for mistakes by giving points away. Besides, people were blowing that corner all weekend. We watched several practice sessions, three qualifying sessions, five support races and the F1 race and it would be hard to exaggerate the frequency of drivers blowing that chicane.

He got into the brakes too late and knew he wouldn't slow it down in time, so he never tried to turn in. That was how the better drivers missed that turn. Some drivers would lock it up and try to turn-in very late. But then they'd have to straighten it up and try to make the escape route or bound over the sleeping policemen.