[EINSER M]

how many here think VET's 1 stop strategy coulda given him the win anyways?
looks like even beyond the 45th lap on those tyres he was doing more than ok in holding off the ALO attacks. they kept on talking about the cliff, but i dont think there was any cliff in sight, he shoulda won the race regardless?!?!

[TK-421]

Hamilton is scum. He knows he turned into Massa at the hairpin

[1BMW4fun]

Despite his immature behavior, I'm begining to see a deep frustration in him of not having the best tool to win which resulted in aggressive driving and hot headed comments. However, for those who hate and are bitter at the guy, he is adding drama and fun to the sport. I find it funny that some comments here have a hint of personal bittness for the guy. Its a sport people, he doesnt personally affect each of your lives in anyway. If you want to see more overtaking this year, this kinda of stuffs will happen, which is more fun.

[jonasaurus]

Was a nice bit of luck for Vettel to win, had it not been for the SC coming out he would have had to pit or would have become alot slower. Nevertheless a win is a win...

[Echo M3]

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

I agree.
I used to be a big fan; not so much anymore.


I will agree it was one of the most entertaining, but not one of the best 'races'.
IMO Monaco is all too often decided by events rather than driver skill. (or until this year, whom ever wins pole)
Seb is a great driver, but he was flat out lucky in this one.

I'm not sure I agree on your last point.

As a Ferrari fan, I was gutted that Vettel got that little reprieve at the end. On the other hand, I had a hard time seeing Alonso manage a successful move past Vettel. Unless he literally drove the last bit of rubber off his tire, Vettel simply had enough pace in all the right places to resist a challenge. You really need an enormous difference in pace, or a serious mistake, to get passed in Monaco.

And bizarrely, Button seemed content to sit close by and hope for the front two to make a mistake, while sitting on fresh rubber. I am sure he now regrets not making a more serious challenge for 2nd or 1st.

That being said, I think the new rules showed their worth today. On a track where DRS was pretty much useless, KERS and the tire strategies turned what is normally a pretty drab race into one with a fair number of overtakes!

[inTgr8r]

Originally Posted by pman10

I'm not sure I agree on your last point.

I guess it's not so much that he was lucky, as we were deprived of seeing what should/could have been a wild finish.
The fact that they were all able to change tires under the full red took that away.

[UltimateBMW]

No matter how you look at it, Vettel was lucky. 50+ laps, his tires were inevitably going to go. Then, poof, getting a free pit stop in that last red flag gifted him the win. And unfortunately, more than anyone it was the fans that lose out. I wanted to see Vettel's tires drop 'off the cliff'. I wanted to see how that situation played out and instead it was avoided completely.

They shouldn't have been able to change tires during that stopping period and I wouldn't be surprised if that particular rule isn't corrected in the future as it robbed any chance of the race finishing itself that we had. Instead we just saw a 5 lap procession at the end. I feel robbed for it.

On Hamilton's comments and his incidents. I can see his frustration. I don't agree with all the moves he made but at the end what could he have done? Settle for coming in 10th? That is certainly out of the question, and you have to push it. This is formula 1, you can't just sit back and accept the terrible outcome.

I think his post race interview just showed how frustrated he is. And I'd say any comment regarding him as scum or worse just shows the opposition he feels he is facing. Although, obviously mentioning the race issue would be considered taboo. But usually if someone is going to speak on the unspoken that it will happen when under immense frustration.

[UltimateBMW]

Originally Posted by TrackRat

Attacking the stewards and playing the "race card" will get Hamilton no where. There was a lot of frustration in this race for many people but you didn't hear other drivers attacking the officials. Hamilton is good at attacking his team on the radio too. Maybe he needs to look in the mirror to find the problems with his F1 career?

His post race interview was definitely uncouth. I don't recall him attacking his team over the radio. He has since approached the Stewards and FIA to appologize and made peace.

But would you have him sit in 10th the whole race then? Especially, when in Q1 and Q2 he had the pace for a pole position?

[Echo M3]

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

I guess it's not so much that he was lucky, as we were deprived of seeing what should/could have been a wild finish.
The fact that they were all able to change tires under the full red took that away.

Fair point. I was disappointed, too. Here's to an exciting Canadian GP

[mevans]

Just watched the race. Hamilton's wanker-ocity has reached epic proportions.

BRB 5 steward talks in 6 races
BRB Crashing 3 cars today
BRB Playing race card [although I love Ali G]
BRB Calling Marshals "stupid"
BRB Calling other drivers "stupid"
BRB trying the same epic pass that worked on Schumi, clearly getting beaten to the corner, and decide to pit maneuver Maldonado instead ...ending Maldonado's chance at points and a 6th place finish.

As for why he's acting this way:

Originally Posted by A. Senna

By being a racing driver you are under risk all the time. By being a racing driver means you are racing with other people. And if you no longer go for a gap that exists, you are no longer a racing driver because we are competing, competing to win. And the main motivation to all of us is to compete for victory, it's not to come 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th. I race to win as long as I feel it's possible. Sometimes you get it wrong? Sure, it's impossible to get it right all the time. But I race designed to win, as long as I feel I'm doing it right.

[gary88]

[UltimateBMW]

Originally Posted by TrackRat

BTW- Hamilton has trashed him team on the radio many times in the past - not today specifically. I don't think anyone viewed his emotional comments as a joke though that may be what he'd like people to think after he made a fool of himself by playing the "race" card and was chastised by virtually everyone in the media.

To be fair, it was a passing remark and not a full out statement. If you watch it in the youtube link above.

Anyways, the Senna quote really ends it for me. The top teams are there to win. So, he can't just be happy with 9th, 10th, whatever. He is trying to beat Vettel, and that is where his sights are at.

[M_Six]

I thought both drive-thru penalties were BS. Racing is racing. Let it flow. But once the stewards made a stink the first time, they had no choice but to nail Hamilton for doing the same thing.

And I agree with Gary above, I was astounded and disappointed that they let them change tires or work on the cars at all. If a red flag is called and a return to racing is expected, the cars should be in parc ferme status with no work allowed. In the past when a red flag has been called at the beginning of a race because of a 1st lap schmozzle, the drivers could run back to the pits and jump in the T-car. But those days are gone. The FIA should make red flag stops meet parc ferme conditions.

[gary88]

IMO nothng but tire warmers and brake fans should be allowed on the car awaiting a restart during a red flag. They even went out and fixed crashy mccrashcrash's rear wing, ridiculous. At least the Indy 500 had an interesting finish.

[Denso]

Originally Posted by gary88

Well said it ruined the race and turned it into a farce, what a stupid rule !!!

[Chenry135]

^ haha, "crashy mccrashcrash"! But seriously, Formula 1 is beginning to really piss me off with all of these penalties. I can completely see why Hamilton is getting mad at the stewards, because with all the lack of passing in F1 he actually gets the balls to pass at Monaco and they do this. He didn't try to knock anyone out, he was just making aggressive passes. And before anyone flames me for being a Hamilton fan, I also think it was a joke when Alonso got a penalty in Malaysia. Also, I think it was obvious in the video that he was joking about the race thing.

[mevans]

Originally Posted by Chenry135

^ haha, "crashy mccrashcrash"! But seriously, Formula 1 is beginning to really piss me off with all of these penalties. I can completely see why Hamilton is getting mad at the stewards, because with all the lack of passing in F1 he actually gets the balls to pass at Monaco and they do this. He didn't try to knock anyone out, he was just making aggressive passes. And before anyone flames me for being a Hamilton fan, I also think it was a joke when Alonso got a penalty in Malaysia. Also, I think it was obvious in the video that he was joking about the race thing.

Unfortunately, you can't ram other cars out of the way without getting penalized. 2 of his 3 metal-to-metals were absolutely avoidable. You can't chalk that up to "aggressive passing," it was simply stupidity today.

Hamilton could obviously see that he didn't have the line, nor had he entered the corner first. Thus, you can't expect a car width if someone is already hitting their apex. He almost hit Schumi on what turned out to be an amazing pass, which would have fallen into acceptable contact as part of racing as opposed to avoidable contact.

Hamilton completely neglected driver safety today. Twice. With the same maneuver. Then he went further and insulted his fellow drivers, and the stewards. Definitely not fitting of a Formula 1 World Champion.

"It's just ridiculous. These drivers are absolutely frickin' ridiculous. Just stupid."

What a tosser.

[UltimateBMW]

Only Hamilton's pass on Maldonado resulted in a retirement. His business with Massa didn't take Massa out of the race. That didn't happen until 2 corners later when Massa got on the dirty line in the tunnel and hit the armcoats.

[Chenry135]

Originally Posted by mevans

Unfortunately, you can't ram other cars out of the way without getting penalized. 2 of his 3 metal-to-metals were absolutely avoidable. You can't chalk that up to "aggressive passing," it was simply stupidity today.

Hamilton could obviously see that he didn't have the line, nor had he entered the corner first. Thus, you can't expect a car width if someone is already hitting their apex. He almost hit Schumi on what turned out to be an amazing pass, which would have fallen into acceptable contact as part of racing as opposed to avoidable contact.

Hamilton completely neglected driver safety today. Twice. With the same maneuver. Then he went further and insulted his fellow drivers, and the stewards. Definitely not fitting of a Formula 1 World Champion.

"It's just ridiculous. These drivers are absolutely frickin' ridiculous. Just stupid."

What a tosser.

I guess I just simply disagree with you.

[mevans]

Originally Posted by Chenry135

I guess I just simply disagree with you.

Which is absolutely your right

I just hate to see a race get so close at the end just to be denied to the fans. It'd be one thing if Alonso or Button had gotten aggressive and crashed out, as they were going for the win. But ultimately Button got screwed out of at least a shot at 1st or 2nd, which was a direct consequence of Hamilton's choices, regardless of whether he was right or wrong.

[E90SLAM]

I have not watched the entire race, but the youtube clip showed where LH crashed into Maldonado looked a lot like Singapore last year where him and Mark Webber collided together...

[Echo M3]

Originally Posted by E90SLAM

I have not watched the entire race, but the youtube clip showed where LH crashed into Maldonado looked a lot like Singapore last year where him and Mark Webber collided together...

I'm not sure I agree. In Singapore, Hamilton was ahead of Webber going into the corner, but didn't leave Webber anywhere to go (except into the side of his car!). Don't forget, Webber was defending there. Lewis kind of 'closed the door' without giving Webber anywhere to go. At the same time, Webber was a bit to blame - he was already behind Hamilton and could have backed out, since there was no way he would have held on to that position.

In Monaco, on the other hand, Lewis wasn't even side by side with Maldonado. Also, st. devote is a VERY narrow corner if you're on the outside, so unless the other guy is ahead or exactly next to yours, you're already committed to the corner. You can see that Maldonado is already taking the apex when Hamilton rams into him. On the other hand, there is no way Hamilton would have cleanly made that corner on his own - he'd either have to cut the corner and slow to a stop to avoid hitting the barriers.

Here's the Massa-Hamilton incident, btw. It's cool to watch since I never saw what happened in the tunnel.

I'm all for aggressive overtaking, but this isn't NASCAR or touring car racing. You can't just ram your opponents off the road and then go on your merry way. It was also very uncharacteristic of Hamilton yesterday - he is normally one of the cleanest overtakers on the grid.