The cars make these boring designers exciting. Three wide? Are you kidding me? I thought I was watching NASCAR at times. The "waah no passing" issue has been crushed like Lance Stroll's ego, and his pathetic promotion. Also crushed was Carlos Sainz.
Stroll admitted to seeing him come out of the pit lane and there is no "blend line" or even room to turn right once you come out. Go fire up your dusty copy of F1 2016 (which us console players do all the time) and see if you can not lock up your tires , go as fast as your team boss wants, and jack your wheel full lock right to make that right. It's as much your corner as anyone's past the "blend" line, assuming you are not a lap down. Then, you have to assume that some 18 year old neophite will not turn in on you when he admits to seeing you blast out of the pits and should know that he has to brake, but you don't. He knew Sainz could brake later, and he admits seeing you exit...if he can't be held responsible for simply refusing to run wide in T1 (which is about as fast, by the way). This is a major problem in F1...and the sooner they fess up to promoting per-pubescent kids to run the fastest cars in the world, the sooner they will stave off the mother of all lawsuits. Up the age to 19 or more, you idiots. You can't even get insurance for a 17 year old, without a massive bank account. GP3 champ Stroll also knew that he was there, and potentially could be there when he hit the apex. It's not about "ramming me in the sidepod" (tell me how many times Carlos has done that and I'll give you a cookie, even though he is a rookie -1). So, if you are comparing talent, Stroll is a disaster and Sainz may have been in the top 6. Stroll should be in GP3 for two more years. Sainz outperformed Verstappen, by the numbers, in 2015. Maybe he thinks he should be as reckless as Max to get ahead. Let's hope not.
You see this wide as hell line on exit to keep the oncoming cars away from the out-lappers?
Why is that there?
Answer: so an out lapper has a decent chance to get up to speed and be seen. If you watched the race, Sainz stayed virtually glued to the left white line. Stroll knew he was there after he zipped past him. Then, as 12 year olds tend to do, he forgot that maybe there might be a bit of acceleration in the pit exit that he could not access due to the need to brake. Oh sh*t. Why think ahead Lance?...just go ahead and ruin your race by your own volition. At least, your average 16 year old may have been clued in. Even Max Verstappen would have gotten this. I think. Maybe. Sotra.
So, here is the
"reg" they cited to screw Sainz: Atricle 27.4 Sporting regs
"At no time may a car be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers or any other person."
That's the best part. "At no time may a car be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous." Stroll is guilty. Here is why:
The Chief Steward (
Danny Sullivan, a man I respect but had no business being the Chief Steward at an F1 race after, what, seven pathetic finishes in the sport, despite a great *oval* record in IndyCar). When I heard Sky mention his name (in between Brundel's constant slander of Raikkonen who never has a chance in that broken down P.O.S.), I knew the decision would be "split the baby" as they say in the legal world...because Sullivan, for all his Indy talent, has ZERO clue about how Herman Tilke ruins tracks or crates boring spaces that only rocket ships (thanks God we have them again) can overcome. This pit exit may be the most ill thought out and dangerous in all of open wheel racing.
Now let's contrast how Sainz describes the incident with how Lucky Lance does:
Sainz:
"I knew it would be very tight at the end of the pits with Lance," Sainz said. "I tried to take the corner around the inside. I didn't lock up the tyres and he must have not seen me and turned it straight into me and we crashed.
"You are allowed to turn in, but when you have someone inside, you have to leave at least one car's margin in case there's someone there. I think he simply didn't see me, and wasn't expecting me to be there.
"But I didn't overshoot the corner so I don't understand how, knowing that you are fighting for position, you don't leave a gap.
"If he had gone around the outside he would have emerged ahead of me after the corner. He chose to take the risk and assume no one was there."
Stroll:
Stroll said
Sainz had "dive-bombed" and insisted
the Toro Rosso driver was to blame.
"I got completely destroyed in my sidepod.
He drove right into me," Stroll said. "I was like 50/60 metres ahead of him in the braking zone, and
he just dive-bombed as I was turning. He just completely drove into the side of me.
I just saw the video, it's ridiculous.
Problem is, Stroll admitted to knowing he was there.
Who sounds like the teenager that should be spanked? A: Stroll. The disaster. Claire, I love you and your father, but you fvcked this one up royally. Maybe you need to visit Loyds of London.
So, thanks Lance. That really was mature the way you worded it. Maybe you could talk to Carlos and understand how diplomacy works. Then again, you are a *****ng teenager who has no business in the "pinnacle" of motorsport. Thanks FIA. I hope Liberty yanks the FIA sanction and adds some sanity to this series, or at least threatens them with NASCAR sanction. That would sure wake them them hell up. This sham needs some sensibility.
I just ran a 50% at Bahrain. There is ZERO room to make that turn out of the pits. You simply have to floor it when you can and "paint the line on the right" Carlos did that. And Stroll, who admitted knowing he was there, assumed a genuine talent would just move over for a boy hack who should be still racing in GP3. Unbelievable. Stroll had time and a brain (I think) to make the right decision. Carlos did not have any choice.
Questions:
1. What do you do when you have no choice but to follow a 90 degree exit apex that leaves no room for the oncoming car and your job is to exit, blend, and allow faster cars to pass? Drive slower out of pit lane so the guy can have his apex? Where does it say it's the non-pitting car's apex is a greater right? Does the pitting car has to either lose time? The white "fake" blend line was over when Lance assumed he was the master of all apexes.
2. If Stroll admits to seeing Sainz, why in the world would he assume he would not potentially be at the apex at the same time? In fact, Stroll was at the Apex first, and past the "blend" line, which was simply a line to keep idiots like Stroll far enough to the left that they could realize a car was exiting, yet he knew that already. You don't lose your right to the apex (after the blend line ends), which was stupidly flawed in the first place, just because someone is ahead of you and you can out-brake them.
Here is their rationale:
According to the stewards, video evidence “showed that car 18 was on the normal racing line, car 55 left the pit lane and made a very optimistic attempt to pass car 18 into the corner. The Stewards decided that the driver of car 55 was predominately to blame for causing the collision in violation of Article 27.4 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations.”
#1 - video evidence. lol. Oxymoron.
#2 - car 18 was on the normal racing line. No sh*t.
#3 - car 55 left the pit lane and made a very optimistic attempt to pass car 18 into the corner. Who actually believes this? Raise your hand. You are a dumbass if you do. Stroll was abut 90 mph faster than Carlos when he ran into him.
#4 - car 55 was predominately to blame for causing the collision in violation of Article 27.4 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations. Oh really?
Let these cars race or I beg Liberty to read the riot act the the FIA and Charlie Whiting. He's been the problem all along. Bernie was, in essence, a scapegoat, because he just lost the title via buyout. But at least Bernie has the sense to know what was right and wrong, even though he was a money monger. Todt is a Paris bureaucrat that needs to be silenced.
Oh scratch all that above. Carlos has seven points on his "license" in FIA world. I hope they suspend him. Because I really want to meet the driver who is arguably the best since Alonso. Another great driver lost, is my prediction. Just like Alonso. They want to race, not be second guessed by idiots.