The Official Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Thread

Bias?

One driver waves good bye while the other holds his arm up.

This could not get anymore comical.

When you have legendary leaders of the sport Senna, Earnhardt etc. win and be acclaimed for using questionable techniques to win, what else do you expect young drivers that venerate them to do?

For my two cents - Senna and Earnhardt and their styles of driving have done more to damage racing than to advance it.

This one.  It was in their "stories" with both side by side but in the regular post it is a swipe.  Sheesh, do I have to EVERYTHING for you??  

http://instagram.com/p/CXLao-FNX3Z

 

Oh, absolutely. I've been saying similar things for years. And the drivers' tendency to emulate these guys is all the more reason the FIA needs to establish, or re-establish, good, consistent driving standards backed by meaningful consequences for infractions.

Toto Wolff: "I don’t think the championship has deserved a result that’s influenced by a collision".

OK Toto, then let's throw out Lewis's P1 & P2 points from GB & Hungary, and Max's P9 from Hungary. I wonder how the WDC looks then?

Don't forget Monza points, too

As I keep repeating, apparently no one hears, is that you are listening to British TV so to expect no British bias is silly.  If you listen to Dutch TV then Max can do no wrong and Lewis is the devil.  If you listen to Spanish TV then Alonso and Sainz are heroes.  

But when Alonso pushed Giovanazzi wide he did so because he couldn't make the corner.  He dive-bombed it.  He was behind going into the corner.  That is different than having a driver on your outside rear corner and going out to the apex.  Neither are great, but the first instance is to try to GAIN a position while out of control, and the other is a deliberate move to keep a position while IN control.  And that is why Max had to give the position back as well; he went into the corner too hot and was out of control, off the track, shoving Lewis and gaining position.  

Personally whether there is contact or not to me is not the thing.  I mean, if the person backs out of a clearly established position because the other person is forcing them to do so or crash, then that is bad.  Like Lewis forcing Button (?) towards the pit wall.  The fact that Button backed out and didn't crash does not make that okay.  No harm no foul?  I disagree.

Bernie says stuff.

japantoday.com/category/sports/hamilton-not-'playing-fair'-with-title-rival-verstappen-ecclestone

The blame for the initiation of ruthless unsportsmanlike driving behavior can be laid squarely at the feet of Jean-Marie Balestre, FISA President from 1979 - 1991.

It was during his reign at the helm that I first saw Senna running Piquet off track at Rio De Janeiro in 1986 (I believe). I remember thinking what a blatant and unsportsmanlike thing to do. I was sure he'd be black-flagged and sanctioned for it, but I don't remember anything coming of it. Senna continued this reckless behavior from time to time throughout his career and I thought that Balestre should have DQ'ed him from F1 altogether. The fact that he didn't sanction him from the outset set a dangerous precedent that had it's consequences as seasons progressed with younger drivers coming into the sport, some of which patterned behavior after Senna's aggressive driving style.

Incidentally it was following the Senna/Prost collision at Suzuka in 1989 that Balestre determined Senna’s disqualification, suspension, and fine with the intent to revoke Senna's Superlicense. This led to the very public falling out between him and Senna with Aryton tearfully threatening to quit F1 altogether. However Senna was reinstated for the 1990 F1 season, and it is commonly and infamously known that Senna deliberately took Prost out at the very first turn at Suzuka, terminating Prost's chances to win the drivers title for Ferrari since his split and departure from McLaren, which Senna was still driving for. Just 7 years later, Michael Schumacher was disqualified from the 1997 Championship (losing all points for the season) when he was vying for the title with Jacques Villeneuve at the final round in Jerez, Spain, when he intentionally turned in to Villeneuve's Williams. Jacques went on to win the race and the title.

Besides not sanctioning Senna from the outset because of his dangerous and unsportsmanlike driving at times, it became painfully apparent with the advent of increasingly better engineered and constructed cars, that incidents or accidents that would have proved fatal mere years before, now engendered an artificially manipulated sense of immortality. It also, ironically and tragically portended the unforeseen death of Senna himself in 1994 at Iola.

It was essentially in the early career of the man that the proverbial genie was allowed to escape unchecked from the bottle, which by de facto has been allowed to continue unabated without meaningful sanction through today.