Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Hockenheimring, 2018

FIA would have used Safety Car for gravel on track in race

RaceFans Round-up

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In the round-up: The gravel on the track which caused qualifying to be red-flagged would have been handled by a Safety Car during the race, according to FIA race director Charlie Whiting.

What they say

RaceFans asked Whiting how he would have handled a repeat of the qualifying red flag situation during the race:

I think we could have done that with a Safety Car in the race.

Quotes: Dieter Rencken

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Social media

Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:

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Comment of the day

Are Mercedes exaggerating Ferrari’s ‘half a second’ power unit advantage?

Wolff is bluffing! If that Ferrari’s “half a second on straights advantage” he mentioned was anything real, Seb and Kimi would have easily snatched 1-2 in qualifying, which wasn’t the case.

Truth is, Mercedes lost the massive advantage they had over their main competitors in the last 3 or 4 seasons and their car is now pretty matched with the Ferrari one. What is making the difference now, is the man behind the wheel and unfortunately for Mercedes, is Ferrari that has the upper hand in that department.
@Elio

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On this day in F1

  • 30 years ago today Ayrton Senna took pole position for the German Grand Prix with Nigel Mansell’s Williams a surprise second

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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25 comments on “FIA would have used Safety Car for gravel on track in race”

  1. Rosberg makes a good point – why was Vettel, on an 8 second lead, with damaged soft tires, trying to keep up with Hamilton?

    I could see the gap between Hamilton and Bottas/Raikkonen shrink to 1-2 seconds but Vettel seemed to be trying to extend or maintain the gap.

    Surely that has to be his biggest mistake of the year.

      1. This is absolute nonsense, for a journo of your calibre knowing full well there was no way Vettel would have known Hamilton’s lap time at that point.

    1. Canada 2011. Vettel is prone to making errors when pressured

      1. Michael Brown (@)
        23rd July 2018, 23:40

        Bahrain 2018

  2. That last sentence on the COTD seems a bit silly now that Vettel managed to be the only driver in the entire field to crash out during the rain.

    It’s Singapore 2017 all over again…

    1. @afonic, when reading through previous posts by that poster, he seems to have a fixed preconception that Mercedes must have a more powerful engine than Ferrari and is therefore rejecting any other possible explanation for Ferrari being so competitive in qualifying trim.

      The problem is that we have seen at other circuits this season that, when comparing the relative performance of the Mercedes and Ferrari cars from the microsector data, Ferrari have generally been gaining time relative to Mercedes on the straights. Wolff may be exaggerating the size of the gap, but comparisons from other circuits suggest that his core assertion – that Ferrari have been gaining time over Mercedes on the main straights – is valid.

      1. I agree. I was referring to this sentence: “What is making the difference now, is the man behind the wheel and unfortunately for Mercedes, is Ferrari that has the upper hand in that department.”, not the engine part.

    2. Agree. Ferrari have a clear advantage, if they were neck and neck, it would be Hamilton ahead of Vettel, and most of the paddock (inc Ferrari) know it.

      Comment of the Day? Joke.

  3. Re COTD

    The Ferrari is the quicker and more consistent car than the Mercedes, that is now abundantly clear. But he is right, it’s the man behind the wheel that’s making the difference, but he’s not wearing red overalls.

  4. I noticed yesterday in the team order discussion (rate the race) and the pit lane entry incident that commenters are getting more polarised.
    Not sure if it is a result of the close battles in the championships, or is this a sign of the times (Brexit, US politics, etc.).

    1. @coldfly – Indeed. Polarized politics is the internet sport of choice it seems. And it’s not a very sporting spectacle. Guess we’re living in interesting times now. Lucky us. ;-)

    2. It’s fun isn’t it? Sight…

    3. The reason is simple: the new world order propaganda has succeeded in brainwashing people (at least those who watch TV, listen to radio, use social media and the internet) into believing in the concept of right and wrong, which of course is a false concept, because in nature there is no right or wrong, ethics, or morals.
      So people argue with each other to defend their “right” against the “wrong” who attack them.

      1. @marciare-o-marcire Right and wrong, ethics and morals exist because people created them. They are true despite being made by people …and people are a part of nature.

        Without such concept there could be no rules, without rules there could be no sport, and without rules or sport there could be no F1.

        1. people are part of nature, but ethics morals and rules are made by an unnatural, artificial process, so it can be said that they don’t exist, except in our sick minds.

          Without such concept there could be no rules, without rules there could be no sport, and without rules or sport there could be no F1.

          Correct, F1 shouldn’t even exist. Problem? I think not.

    4. Actually it’s very simple and that is that for the first time in 10 years, the tifosi have something to look forward to. And many are not conducting themselves very well.

      By this I refer to the constant references to Lewis’s taste in fashion, music and friends which are all really just thinly veiled insults towards we all know exactly what.

    5. Michael Brown (@)
      23rd July 2018, 23:45

      @coldfly It was at its worst on the F1 Facebook page this past weekend. Hamilton has a car problem in qualifying, suddenly he’s a whiner, unable to cope with a car problem, even putting the marshals in danger when pushing his car (that’s a real complaint I swear). Then Vettel crashes in the race and the opposite side sees the red mist to jump on him.

      I can’t be surprised because this is the internet, and people get to say things they normally wouldn’t say because they’re (mostly) free of the consequences.

    6. It’s the anonymity of the internet….You don’t lose much by posting on boards. Remember the water-cooler, it’s gone. Try to be as passionate in your discussion face to face with others and you will see different behavior (at work, gatherings, etc.).

  5. What an absolute dud of a COTD. The better driver is the one leading the championship despite 2 more car failures than the guy in 2nd.

    And one less talent failure to boot.

    1. Michael Brown (@)
      23rd July 2018, 23:47

      It’s the man behind the wheel making the difference… in qualifying. Wolff and COTD are taking about qualifying.

  6. I have been missing the humour from the captions competitions but that COTD definitely made me chuckle. Good to see the site still knows how to make a joke.

    1. yeah, that comment has not aged well!

  7. I couldn’t agree more with Rosberg concerning Vettel’s error. Both an unforced as well as an embarrassing mistake at such low speed. ”Embarrassing, very embarrassing.”

  8. Huge Hamilton fan here but starting to like Nico Rosberg more and more (obviously disliked him during Lewis vs Nico years). Always watching his latest Youtube content and it seems like he still have huge respect for Lewis despite everything. Really enjoy hearing his views whenever he is part of Sky commentary team.

    Also as Nico mentioned, Ferrari has found something magical on the engine side and those who have seen the data are all reporting back that its very obvious the gains they have made since their last engine update. For the sake of close Championship (Ham vs Vet) hope the cars remain more or less equal. Ferrari gaining 5 tenths on straights sounds scary and Championship-ending advantage.

Comments are closed.