Did he defend well (min 00:40)?

Go to min 00:40, what do you think, did Max defend well here or was he supposed to stay back?

 

1:29 thats just blocking , he should get a penelty , really dont like verstappen.

 

The only issue is at 1:30 where he reacts to Kimi going for the inside on Kemmel and starts weaving, Kimi backs off otherwise he'd have been launched over the rear of Max's car landing maybe in the crowd...

You can't do that stuff in F1 as its unsafe, it'd policed by the drivers themselves really but maybe there needs to be a change to the wording of the rule book. Max needs to learn there are times when the guy behind is faster and tactically you have to give up a position, wether the stewards are going to make him realise this or a huge accident I'm not sure...

 

also at 0:40 thats just a classic rosberg , pushing him off track , he still races like its formula 3 , i think its a mistake to bring such young drivers to F1 but thats my opinion.

 

If two cars reach the turn in point in an overlapping situation, they have to give the other car enough room to follow their own lines during the corner so that both cars can stay on the track through the corner. Verstappen should have given up before the turn in point because the Ferrari had better speed in the straight and he just had no chance to defend cleanly here.

It's because he brakes later that Verstappen is even able to arrive at the turn in point pretty much wheel to wheel with the Ferrari (otherwise he would have been overtaken before the corner). Because he brakes too late, he carries too much speed in the corner, and has to go much too wide to remain on his side of the track, not leaving enough space to the other car.

Very dangerous and unacceptable defense. 100% Verstappen's fault in my opinion.

Exactly the same thing at 2:20. Just unacceptable.

If you've got as much talent as he does at his young age and want to be a world champion, you'd better reach the age of 25 with no serious injury. You're pushing your luck pretty hard when you drive like that. Additionally, it's just not clean and you're dangerous for others. I think the stewards are too lenient with him.

 

Maybe it is acceptable by the rules but for me Max is just overdriving the car where he pushes Kimi and Perez off track. He barely keeps the car on track himself and pushes Kimi off. If that is racing .. Look at how Massa defends while not pushing the others off track.

Really don't like Max either. Wish the kid would drop the attitude too.

 

At 2:20 something similar to 0:5x happens again. For the 1:30 thing, someone report him on the minorating thread.

 

completely agree with @chalminho . The 1:3o episode is "ok" on the rulebook, but way too dangerous for F1. But both 0:40 and 2:20 are not ok even for the rulebook. If you can't make the corner yourself, then your inside line defense cannot be considered acceptable, as by definition you are not leaving any space. Said otherwise: once the cars are side-by-side at turn in, whether you are defending or attacking does not matter anymore. You have to be able to make the corner y yourself and leave some minimal space to the opponent.

 

Haha yes. If he continues to drive like this he will be degraded to a W-rating.

 

Alonso said you have the right to do one move to defend in the straight as long as the other car is behind. So the 1.30 straight incident is fine according to him.

But is there not any nuance to this rule? If you're at 300km/h and the car behind you is literally a couple meters away, they may just not have enough time to react to your move because of human reaction time at this speed. In this case, is your one move still okay? I don't have the answer to this one. Does anyone know?

 

Me too.

But he pulled these "stunts" in two sequential races now and the even worse thing is that he doesn't even care.

After the race the german reporter showed him replays on a portable monitor and asked what Max is thinking about his behaviour and if he might have done something wrong.

Verstappen then answered in a pretty childish manner that he doesn't care, he will continue to drive like that because it's the way he wants to drive/race.

 

The leading driver is allowed to choose the line he wants, but he must do that pretty early. It's not allowed to change your line as a reaction to block the following driver.

 

Actually, Schnipp, there's no such official rule apparently. I checked the Formula 1 2016 rules and they are silent on this issue. So I understand that Verstappen's move in the straight was fine and I think it's shocking. It's too dangerous.

Article 27.7 of the 2016 Formula One Sporting Regulations provides:

"Any driver defending his position on a straight, and before any braking area, may use the full width of the track during his first move, provided no significant portion of the car attempting to pass is alongside his. Whilst defending in this way the driver may not leave the track without justifiable reason. For the avoidance of doubt, if any part of the front wing of the car attempting to pass is alongside the rear wheel of the car in front this will be deemed to be a ‘significant portion’".

You can read the rules here: http://www.fia.com/file/40714/download/14519?token=aIudaF8D

I find it extremely concerning that driving rules only represent 2 pages in the 56 page official rules of Formula 1 to be honest. After decades of F1 (and dozens of deaths unfortunately), a dangerous sport that is watched live by millions of people should have official replies to questions like the one I asked. Passive safety has increased a lot since Senna's death. Driving rules themselves seem largely unchanged. They look rudimentary to me. It's like they're set in stone and no one is using incidents to make the rules evolve.

 

IMO, Verstappen let his car drift completely across to the left side of the track as he progressed through the right hander at the end of the Kemmel Straight (in both incidents at that location). Both cars were alongside each other, so he should have given the other driver enough room.

 

I like Verstappen but he needs to cool off with some serious penalties. I even blame him for the first corner of the race, he dived in way too late, even though Vetell is to blame too, i think Vetell thought that Kimi took that corner and line closes to the wall, he did not expect Kimi to stay there..

 

The real danger is the weaving on the straight. The other stuff involves racing incidents open to debate, but the weaving is going to lead to a car going airborne like this...



That happens 2/3 of the way along Kemmel and you could easilly end up in the crowd... I think everyone wants to see wheel to wheel racing without the stewards intervening too much but the aggressive defending can't go on. Pick your line and stick to it.

 

Yes, that second incident at the end of the Kemmel Straight was preceded by a decidedly dodgy "double weave" that unsettled the driver coming up behind.

 

It took Webber only 3 seconds (I counted) to throw his steering wheel after such a terrifying crash! The guy must have been pissed...

 

I think first time he failed a little when pushed Vettel? outside, second time it was nice racing, maybe blocked a bit too late, should have performed that slightly earlier.

 

I guess this one was more terrifying than the one at Valencia.