malcolmw wrote:
The Ferrari apologists on the web seem to think that in the act of letting Raikkonen through, Hamilton somehow put himself in an advantageous position on the track.
So, let me get this right. You back off to let your opponent by, move across the track behind him thus changing your track position and this gives you an advantage?
What's the driver supposed to do? Think "Oh, I'd better drop back another 6 ft as I have gained an advantage"?
The claim is that, evan after letting him pass, he ended up closer to kimi than if he'd followed him through the bend
under normal racing conditions, and this set him up for the pass. It's an exceptionally anal interpretation, given that both drivers were struggling to control cars on unsuitable tyres. (If the fia go bust I guess they can all get jobs in data management for scp's.)
I'm still reeling form it all though. you mention the pig-headed ferrari fanboys POV- they get everywhere- but a significant number of ferrari fans are disgusted, and that don't happen often. I'm thinking there could be a big backlash on this... because, after all the "tedium" F1 is so often labeled with, we witnessed one of the most exciting laps of the entire year, two of the sports heavyweights going at it hammer & tongs in a death-or-glory duel, something the sport desperately needs more of, yet instead of championing and cherishing the spectacle, holding it up and throwing it back at the critics, the administrative body have taken a big smelly dump all over it.
BTW, the 25 secs added "represents" a drive-through penalty. This is very significant- A drive-through penalty is final and
cannot be appealed.