17 - Japan

[AD]

Well, according to him, the reason for doing that was keeping the brakes on temperature:

Q: With the re-starts you seemed to be rehearsing it every single lap, especially in the first safety car period?
LH: That wasn’t really the case – we just needed to keep the heat in the brakes. I was running quite a hard compound of brakes, so if I did light braking, I would have glazed the brakes. So I was making sure there was a little bit of a gap, maximising the gap that you’re allowed, and use it to my benefit. It
was tough because Mark behind me was just too close, and all of a sudden he braked really hard and I don’t know what happened – someone ran into him. I’m just glad that it’s over – I was so relieved when I came across the line. It was just too long.

Source: FIA Sunday Press Conference transcript

[Greyhead]

That was the second restart AD, ironically he didn't seem to do it as much on that one! On the first restart he seemed to be doing it unnecessarily often. Alonso (or anyone else) doesn't appear to have complained about it though so it must just be me!

[AD]

He probably did it more at the first restart because they had been doing what - 18 or 19 laps in slow tempo behind the safety car - and the second SC phase later was shorter.

On the other hand, since Hamilton doesn't have a lot of experience having races like this in F1, maybe he was being more careful with the brakes than he needed to be? I don't know.

Anyway, I think the Spanish paper that started talking about how there could be an investigation for that has very "good" subjective reasons, after a race where a Spanish McLaren lost ten points to his teammate.

[HF]

Anyway, I think the Spanish paper that started talking about how there could be an investigation for that has very "good" subjective reasons, after a race where a Spanish McLaren lost ten points to his teammate.

Oha, very had worda AD

I the end I like this race with all its strages and incidents and totally everything. I never enjoyed a race like this in the last 2 years... :-"

[Greyhead]

AD, I accept the point about warming brakes up, but surely to keep them properly warmed up he'd be stopping and starting for the whole time behind the safety car, but he didn't really do it till the last few corners. I know they all do it, but it just seemed excessive then, I just wanted him to bloody well get on with it after that long behind the safety car!

[HF]

AD, I accept the point about warming brakes up, but surely to keep them properly warmed up he'd be stopping and starting for the whole time behind the safety car, but he didn't really do it till the last few corners. I know they all do it, but it just seemed excessive then, I just wanted him to bloody well get on with it after that long behind the safety car!

I think like you Greyhead. He just did it to annoy the others and get a good position in the re-start. Is it forbidden? I really don't know

[Greyhead]

It's not forbidden, the only rule really is that you have to be within five car lengths of the safety car or the car in front. I don't mind maybe one or two stop-starts, but Hamilton just seemed to push his luck a little bit. Perhaps there should be some sort of "one move" rule like there is when a driver is being defensive.

[HF]

It's not forbidden, the only rule really is that you have to be within five car lengths of the safety car or the car in front. I don't mind maybe one or two stop-starts, but Hamilton just seemed to push his luck a little bit. Perhaps there should be some sort of "one move" rule like there is when a driver is being defensive.

Well, why more rules? Hamilton does not caused an accident ore something like that with his strage moves there on the road....

[Greyhead]

Not yet...

[HF]

Not yet...

Okay, we saw what happened to Webber / Vettel... Maybe it was an action by Webber like the Hamilton one.... who knows?

[Greyhead]

Well, in a post-race interview, Hamilton did say that Webber was a bit too fast, alongside him a lot of the time, but obviously Hamilton couldn't push to go faster as the safety car was in front of him.

However Hamilton hinted that Webber could have handled the safety car situation better.

"I was constantly on the radio to my engineers to tell the Red Bull team to get Mark to make a little more of a gap because I couldn't go any faster because the pace car was in front of me," he said. "I'd move over because I couldn't see Mark and then he'd just appear alongside me, so he kept out-braking himself. I felt something was going to happen, and I guess my instincts told me right."

(from Autosport.com)

[AAS]

Not yet...

Not yet ?

Fan-Video :
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8hWIfBkVQUk

[Greyhead]

Yeah, not yet. I don't think Hamilton caused the Webber/Vettel fracas, look where the safety car is in relation to Hamilton, and where Webber and Vettel are. Personally I think that one was just a racing incident caused by crap weather and visibilty. Maybe Vettel was a bit too close to Webber but it seemed to me like the safety car was (unintentionally) bunching them up a bit too much on that occasion, and it just caught them out.

Of course, as I write this, the race stewards at China announce an investigation into said incident...

Just a small point: can stewards from one race rule over incidents at another race? I wouldn't have thought that would be possible.

And one for the conspiracy theorists: Apparently the investigation is at the behest of Franz Tost, one of the bosses of Toro Rosso. Who are powered by Ferrari engines... And Tost is just one letter away from Todt... Anyway, Tost's motivation for the investigation is to see the grid penalty taken away from Vettel.

[AD]

Well, it seems Hamilton won't get a penalty and Vettel's penalty has been taken back. Interesting outcome.

[HF]

I see you guys have taken notice of all obvious changes, but you haven't seen the most "earth shocking" livery change.

Look at this picand you see what the lines are: http://img524.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 0981-4.jpg