was hamilton solely to blame?

Question

Hamilton ran into Raikkonin. WHY was the pit lane opened, but cars were not allowed OUT?? The safety car and racers could not have been anywhere near. Why did it take so long b4 the safety car was brought out? The driver that ran into Hamilton, was HE given a 10 place penalty? It all smacks of very poor management by the race authorities.

Answer 1

Nico Rosberg was also given a 10 place penalty.

Kimi was stationary because the pit lane was on a red light - the safety car and entourage need to be clear of the pit exit before the green light goes on.

Answer 2

I'm answering like I don't know what happened in the race

Lewis Hamilton is a great driver. He is young, he's in a pretty good team that will help him start his career. Last year everyone was excited with Lewis...he was a promising rookie, going for the championship. He proved he was better than his teammate Fernando Alonso. This year, Lewis was determined to win the Championship after an incident that caused him the title in his last race, last year. He started with a win, and the championship was going ok for him-he had many chances to win (he still has) In Montreal, Lewis took the pole position and he was sure he would take the 10 points after the race. Imagine how he felt when he saw the safety car...he was a long way in front of the second driver, and he lost all this work because of the safety car. He went to the pits, fuel was added on the vehicle and he left the team to go out in the circuit and win the race. He immediately saw two cars (Kimi Raikkonen and Robert Kubica) passing and going to the exit of the pit lane. Can you imagine how he felt? Losing a win because of the pits? So, he ran thinking that he should pass those cars quickly and win. He didn't see the red light, he just saw the two cars stopping. He couldn't do anything, he couldn't stop...he heard Ron Dennis saying ''red light!'' , but it was too late. He crashed into Kimi and then Nico Rosberg crashed into him. He had lost everything, he had lost the race, he had destroyed someone else's race (at least he was an enemy) So, he got out of the car and went to his team...He was disappointed...Haven't you ever felt like that? He is a human, too...we can't blame him...everybody makes mistakes...tiny or large...

Answer 3

Well basically if you watched the race yesterday you would have seen Alex Wurtz explaining why it happened. He said there is no point in calling drivers stupid for pit lane mistakes as they are on the limit of their brain function. they are thinking of lots of different things when they are exiting the pits after a stop. With Lewis he was not expecting the red light. The light was on because the safety car was going passed the exit at the time. Lewis obviously wanted to get back onto the track and went as fast as he could in the pits. He heard the team shouting 'red light' on his radio but couldn't stop in time. The normal procedure in the pit lane is that the drivers line up if stopped by the red light. In this case Kimi was stopped alongside Robert so although Lewis tried to avoid hitting either of them he simply didn't have the run off space. Nico then hit Lewis from behind too. At the end of the day there were a lot of circumstances that caused this pit lane pile up. The main reason was Lewis just didn't see th red light. He and the team were at fault, as was Nico and Williams. Both Lewis and Nico were given a 10 place penalty.

IMO there was no need to have the safety car in the first place, but as I am not part of the organising committee what I think doesn't really matter. Maybe they didn't have a crane there to remove the car, maybe they were just being over cautious

Answer 4

The Pit lane had a red light as the safey car and convoy of other cars were passing and the exiting cars needed to join the end of the queue....what they should have done was close the pit lane as the safety car left....then reopen it later....Hamilton was wrong and got what he deserved as did the other driver....if there was no penalty then anyone could rear end anyone else and put them out of the race without penalty which would be stupid.

Answer 5

yeah the driver that ran into hamilton got the same penalty as lewis did. Its not poor managment, the pit lane has been closed at one end before, its not a new thing...he just wasnt looking and his team only told him at the last minute.

Answer 6

Very poor management!? More like very poor knowledge of the rules. If the decision was so heinous I'm sure both McLaren and Williams would have appealed (funny that you never mentioned Rosberg's penalty). Hamilton knew the moment he stepped out of his car that he had made the mistake. Anyways... Why bring this up now!? Would have something to do with the fact that Hamilton didn't score any points in France!?

Answer 7

Of course Hamilton is solely to blame. He was driving after all and it's every reace-driver's reponsibility to take notice of the lights at the end of the pit-lane.



The pit-lane was open and the lights on red for a very good reason - you can't have people flying out of the pits into (or trying to get ahead of) the safety car.



If you really feel so sorry for Lewis, blame Juan Pablo. After all, it was his Indy style antics that caused the introdcuction of this rule anyway...

Answer 8

Sto questioning the rules because as people have said the safety car and others were passing by the pit lane exit. Hamilton broke the rules and the punishment was fair deal with it. Why are you complaining when hamilton didnt even complain?

Answer 9

On the basis on UK highway code and traffic laws, he was definitely to blame for rear-ending into the car in front. Whether the light should be red, causing Kimi to stop, is a separate issue. If I crashed into the rear of a car stopping at a junction, it is irrelevant to ask if the traffic at the main road should be there to cause the car in front to wait. It is also irrelevant to ask if any driver crashing into me subsequently should be punished as well. Pit lanes are occasionally closed because of problems, e.g. stalled cars, debris, etc., and it is the duty of drivers to take due care. We cannot blame others when our sportsmen fail. E.g. our rugby team could have easily won if the gravity in the southern hemisphere were same as in the UK, or the grass they used were the right ones, etc.

Answer 10

Val's right with her answer. Hamilton and Rosberg were both at fault with mitigating circumstances. Both drivers got a penalty.



Daniel Craig, ever heard the expression Pot calling the kettle black? you're one of the biggest Hamilton haters here and you're calling for people to stop the loathing, I just nearly peed my pants laughing at you



Mark you are right about JPM, the original 'crash bandit' as I have heard him called lol

Answer 11

im a hamilton fan but i still think it was his fault. it was avoidable so i think he shoulda got the penalty. i agree with you about the delay about the safety car. how long did that take.

Answer 12

D red light ws der bcos parallel 2 d pit lane safety car ws running wth d grid,it mayve bin amess otherwise

Answer 13

stupid question, stopping for a red light would have to be one of the most basic rules on a racetrack, Hamilton didnt stop, pretty straight forward management really.

Answer 14

YES. Now stop the Hamilton loathing and try to understand the rules. Its not Formula Britain, its FORMULA ONE. If you guys are so pinched that your boy was punished despite him being at fault, I reckon you guys should stop competing Internationally and go ahead & make a Formula Britain championship where banging stationary cars, blaming the authorities, overtaking illegally wins you the race.



For God's sake, try being a bit rational. And refer to Dalli Lama's answer. Great Job !

Answer 15

No Mclaren's pit garage crew was soley to blame. They should have told Hamilton to be careful but then agains serves him right for being so cocky and aggressive. Needs to know when to cool it sometimes that lad.

Answer 16

"stupid rule", i heard that from one commentator.

But no matter how stupid it is, still a rule for them to abide.

Absolutely it was a big mistake by Hamilton though.

That's why BRAKE is invented in order to stop!

Answer 17

was he to blame????



of course he was, i'm sorry but if he couldn't see the big red stationary object in front of him then he shouldn't be allowed to drive.

Answer 18

How many seats are there in a F1 car?

Answer 19

kinda....red light, unless he has become color blind instantaneously, but that i do doubt...