multi21

Defending by slowing down into corners to get a launch out of that corner.

GT3_Driver

What a Glorious sound!!!!

ProCoach

And to break the momentum of the following driver. A sad but commonly practiced part of “racecraft.”

multi21

Why do you say sad? Part of defending against a faster car is using your track position to keep one at bay. If not going for a gap no longer makes you race driver, then isn't not defending and just letting a faster car by the same as no longer being a racing driver?

ProCoach

He didn't alter his line, there's no "track position defense" applicable here. The desired path of FA and GW was the same. GW assumed FA would traverse that stretch of road the same way he had every previous lap, until the gap disappeared.

Then, FA basically balked GW at the fastest, most highest commitment part of the corner, the entry. GW, with the car loaded up, suddenly was faced with an impediment, once consciously put there by FA "parking" the car at the entry.

Substitute this a thousand different series and in many different levels and subtleties. It's not racing as well as you can, it's #u%k!ng your competitor. It's chicken****. If I were GW, I would have used FA as a braking aid...

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/a...wards-defence/

goin2drt

There is that "assume" word again. You know that just makes GR an a$$. (not sure who GW is)

Nowanker

It's not racing as well as you can, it's #u%k!ng your competitor. It's chicken****. If I were GW, I would have used FA as a braking aid...
I would have 'liked' that part twice....

ProCoach

You have a point. (Sorry, I typed GW instead of GR).

Drivers do this all the time. They just usually don't put other drivers in danger when they do it.

ELange0322

See, I wouldnt have called "sad" but rather using the tools (as well as the contour of the track) you have at your disposal. I actually think the real issue is that George wasnt closer when Alonso did this. That would have forced George to be more expecting that Alonso wouldnt be going flat out and already being constrained in pace by the pace of the Alonso car. What caught George out was that it was too unexpected and thought that he would be running into the back of Alonso. FWIW, I think it was 2 years ago also at this track that Sainz had an off thru the turn 9-10 complex as he was chasing Magnussen. Sainz's off was because if he didnt stay left for the right at 10, he would have run right into the back of Magnussen. It wasnt that Sainz "lost it". It was the differential in pace in a very fast place that he wasnt expecting. Had that also been thru a slower corner, then Sainz's pace also would have been constrained already by Magnussen. I see them as the same, but here that Alonso did on purpose (because he needed to as otherwise would have been caught in the long left hand sweeper on Lakeside Drive which is a DRS zone. Just my 2 cents...

ELange0322

Bingo. Its the risk of doing this in this area that was the issue.

Change venue to Spa. Maybe do this into La Source. Never do it thru Eau Rouge.

ProCoach

Yes, violating the trust you have to have with other drivers when driving with little or no margin.

Yes, same thing to me, too.

Yes, the fact that FA did it on purpose, THAT is the problem.

I suppose @goin2drt has a point in the fact that Russell, knowing Nando was a sitting duck in the next DRS zone, did NOT anticipate that this dirty driving tool might be deployed on him.

Look, I have no hard-on for Nando or any of the drivers, but the standards have declined precipitously recently. The drivers BEG the stewards all the time for guidance, otherwise they say that they'll do whatever it takes... I think the latter is wrong.

fatbillybob

When does racecraft and end and an offense begin? Doesn't rus have a responsibility to control his car at all times? He has a record of late race crashes from running out of talent. It is race craft for example to fool your opponent by doing something consistently then change it up. While being predictable on track prevents crashes these guys are not time trialing. In some ways a professional miata race where there are bump drafting trains 6 cars deep is displaying more racecraft than F1 cars passing with drs. I don't get treated with the level of respected and consistency that Alonso penalty would imply is demanded. if I'm faster I don't get to just drive around a guy. It's a fight and sometimes it can end up in tears even in the amateurs. The lights on Alonso car were on a few Seconds. Doesn't that mean he is off power? How many more seconds warning does rus deserve? That fews seconds might seem too little like a brake check to me but rus is one of the top racers in the world.

Carlo_Carrera

Quote form the steward's ruling from an article on F1.com. Alonso push the boundaries of "defending" way too far. At the speed they were entering that corner there was no time for Russell to compensate. If Aston appeal they will lose that appeal.

“Russell explained to the stewards that from his perspective, Alonso’s manoeuvre was erratic, took him by surprise and caused him to close distance unusually fast, and with the resulting lower downforce at the apex of the corner, he lost control and crashed at the exit of the corner. There was no contact between the cars.

“Telemetry shows that Alonso lifted slightly more than 100m earlier than he ever had going into that corner during the race. He also braked very slightly at a point that he did not usually brake (although the amount of brake was so slight that it was not the main reason for his car slowing) and he downshifted at a point he never usually downshifted. He then upshifted again, and accelerated to the corner before lifting again to make the corner.

“Alonso explained that while his plan was to slow earlier, he got it slightly wrong and had to take extra steps to get back up to speed. Nonetheless, this manoeuvre created a considerable and unusual closing speed between the cars.

“In considering the matter the stewards focused solely on the wording of the regulation which states: ‘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.’”


https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...VcnTQpDFh9FtLr

ProCoach

I didn’t need a stewards ruling to tell me that. I could see it develop as it happened…

LuigiVampa

The issue is that everyone knows that Alonso is probably one of the smartest drivers ever on the grid when it comes to strategy and this I think he is the only driver who would ever receive a penalty like this. The stewards KNOW he did this on purpose because he is the only one smart enough to do it.

Ask yourself - if any other driver did the same little innocuous moves would you think they did it on purpose or it was just random driving?