Verstappen vs Leclerc - Overtake Fair or Foul?

[IMrIMike]

tHiS iS rAcIng

Mind you, it takes two cars on track for it to be actual racing.
I voted unfair but no penalty, but the "racing" everyone seems to be talking about so much lately also involves a certain amount of respect for the other car´s space.

 

[Andrea9805]

To me, it was the best race of the season.

I was against Vettel's penalty and I would be against Verstappen's too but since there was a penalty in Canada, then there should be one here too.

FIA inconsistency is ruining racing, they said they'll let drivers race more and having warnings instead of penalties, and this is fine, but this can't be a change on the fly since other drivers have already been penalized.

 

[RichardHessels]

1. They were completely even side by side, otherwise they would not have made contact with their front tires, but one would've touched the others wing, or sidepod, etc.
View attachment 312938
2. If you really think Leclerc is at fault for the collision you're straight up delusional.

This reads like some Verstappen-Ultra love letter, which all F1 fans really appreciate.

Verstappen was in front.
Already from the moment they entered the corner.

 

[rikirk]

Well, if it was here at RD and I was taking the inside to then move to the outside and had contact getting the other car offtrack, I would definitely lift off and wait to avoid a ban.

 

[beachamor]

max had all steering lock on,can see he trying to aviod charles,but feel sorry for charles

 

[AnklaX]

It was hard but not entirely fair. Max should've given him room outside. I don't like that blocking is racing even though during hard racing this is normal and not exactly penalty worthy. Mas was a bit ahead and had the inside line and he had DRS. He should've given enough room for Charles to try a drag race with him out of that corner. If it's anything, its unsportsmanlike or disrespectful racing on Max's part.
If it was Charles in Maxs place, I'd sing a different tune. I'd say it's hard but it happens in racing all the time. But I'd still say, I don't like it when blocking is racing.
It's funny to think that in iRacing this would've handed Max a penalty for he did not hold the line for the car on the outside. By it's standard, F1 drivers at times don't show enough respect to their peers on track. Gentlemanly racing this was not.

 

[Thang Nguyen]

No further action, official.

 

[Enerjex]

Leclerc lost the corner and knew it before turning in. He should have given it up and focused on a wide entry to gain a better exit than Max. Hanging on around the outside of tight corners is risky as the driver who has won the corner can basically do what they like because they have won the corner. This recent 'hang on around the outside at all costs' mentality isn't always the best tactic as displayed in this instance.

Probably still a bit of F2 mentality in Leclercs racecraft

 

[Tylda]

No further action.
Max keeps his win.
We actually saw racing today.

No we saw destruction derby today.

 

[Tylda]

Most of people complain about boring races and FIA interfering always with races.
This move was not boring and FIA "didn't" interfere.
Still... most complains.

Because it wasn't fair.

 

[silhouette106]

To quote a certain spainish guy 'You got to leave-a space, all the time'

I half ok with running people out of road if you are a significantly ahead on exit. But to my eyes Leclerc was all but along-side him on exit and got run off the track.

 

[muzikant]

i can just imagine a modern era FIA drivers debriefing with Ayrton Senna
FIA: Ayrton what is your opinion on the overtaking maneuver by Max.
Ayrton: Well, If you don't go for the gap.............
FIA: Yes but, we don't really encourage gaps anymore, we would prefer you to overtake, with the assistance of DRS, on the straights only?

Superrrr text haha 100000.000 % agree

 

[paulvanwens]

Max showed the world today how F1 should be every race.

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

Verstappen was in front.
Already from the moment they entered the corner.

View attachment 312942

Eh, if a driver is in front, how can you hit wheel to wheel front wheels, and wheel to wheel back wheels?

If, going up to the corner, by magic, they had locked wheels on the straight, and never got away from each other. And gone straight in the corner, with their wheels merged. Verstappen would've been closer to that arbitrary yellow line, but everyone would've said the were side by side.

As they are turning, you cannot put a line like that, to show who is front, and who is behind in terms of an on track fight. This reminds me of the Rosberg - Hamilton pictures and lines from the same corner in 2016.
Actually it was the same kind of lines IIRC.

 

[dud]

Verstappen was in front.
Already from the moment they entered the corner.

View attachment 312942

Doesn't matter here. The rules are clear:
- if you are in front you get to have the racing line
- you are in front as long as your wheels are in front of the other's wheels, as in one's front wheel fits between the other's wheels
- when the wheel do not "fit" into the empty space anymore, there are no rights and any contact is a racing incident with no fault
- if you do not like the contact that might result you need to back off

That's very clear in the rules. As soon as the behind car's front wheel doesn't fit between front and rear wheel of the lead car any contact is a racing incident.

 

[MANashTTU]

The fact that Verstappen caught Leclerc from 14 seconds back, gaining a half second a lap to make up the final five seconds, is relevant. Verstappen didn't wreck a driver to keep from getting passed. He overtook a much slower car for the lead, bumped wheels, no one was wrecked. If that's a penalty, then they need to start blue flagging leaders who are a half second a lap slower than his pursuer. Great race, and the better car/driver won. Surely no one can believe Verstappen and Red Bull didn't earn that win.

 

[cam.d.walker]

I'm glad there was no penalty, even though I was cheering for Leclerc. If we keep penalizing drivers, they aren't going to race each other. Because of the current formula, Verstappen passing Leclerc was inevitable, and sometimes you need to really dig in to make the pass. Leclerc defended until their was no room left, and as far as I'm concerned, that's just hard racin'. The Vettel penalty 3 weeks ago only showed that the rule book is too restrictive on racing, and I'm glad the FIA ostensibly learned their lesson in reviewing this one. Stop telling the drivers how and when they can race, adding gimmicks to expedite a clean, legal pass, and let them have it out on the track. The only thing we should be criticizing here is the DRS system that prevented the battle for the lead from being even more intense. Think Schumacher VS Hakkinen 1998. Today we saw a little wheel banging because both drivers were unwilling to give way, and that's how it should be.

 

[Luke Maney]

Max was beside Leclerc before the turn, and he was on the inside, therefore it was his corner and he could do what he wanted! Simple if you understand that once a driver is all the way up beside you and he is inside the corner it's his corner.

Besides the F1 world would of been up in arms if the stewards had stolen that win from Max. I personally would of quit watching and keeping up with it!

 

[MetalMania]

Full disclosure, I haven't read all the replies here and I'm on like beer # 4 as I type this. This is a tough one, because it WAS a good hard race and had me really pumped to see these guys go wheel to wheel for a race win with HAM and Mercedes out of the picture. While I feel Max had Charles fairly beaten at the corner (before turn in), he also turned in late and left no room for him to remain on the the track. Sure, he kept lock on the wheel but turned in so late there was no way he would leave any racing room, where the lap before he did. So to me this is a case of he forced him off the track but didn't need to, but he still had him beat. 50/50, I can see both sides of the argument. For the good of F1 the pass should probably stand, but I really would like to have seen Max turn in just a bit sooner and leave a car width on the outside for that pass. I'm getting fed up with officiating controversies factoring into the outcomes of these races. These guys are supposed to be the best race drivers in the world, I want to see them drive and race like it.

 

[Luke Maney]

The FIA is at fault here.
That kind of stuff is terrible for the sport and especially for us, the audience.

We want to watch close racing WITH side by side action.
But this **** where the overtaking guy can just push the outside guy wide in a proper Hamilton-esque move ist simply terrible.

I'll never understand why the FIA doesn't implement a very simple rule that applies to tight corners:
If you are attacking on the inside, you gotta stay on the inside.

That way the outside guy gets a change to counter and there is a much bigger chance for a great run-off towards the next corner. Which is what the audience wants to see.

With all due respect: you might be wrong?
Because Max was on the racing line all through the corner...Max knew it was his corner before they turned in because:
1...he was all the way beside LeClerc
2...he was on the inside

The two above facts prove it was Max's corner and so he could track on the racing line all the way around.

Besides, if the stewards had stolen that win from Max they would of damaged the sport! The stewards should of made their decision much sooner rather than waiting so long after the race. Ferrari must of put in a huge protest?