slogen51 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 20, 2021 9:51 am
I agree
I am a big Hamilton fan but he was never intending to make the apex of copse - both drivers were very aggressive but Hamilton can't expect Max to just get out of the way of his over speed drag into copse - it's not dodgems.
He should have received a drive through penalty
Later at the same corner Hamilton took a much tighter line when passing Leclerc to cap an otherwise brilliant drive from the Stevenage man.
I agree with that, and the statement made by the stewards. If Hamilton had made the apex at Copse then his case would have been much stronger that Max didn't leave enough room and turned in on him. However, Hamilton didn't make the apex, missing it by at least half a car's width and was understeering wide. Max did appear to leave enough room on the inside (at least up to the point of impact) therefore arguing that Max turned in on him is weak at best.
It would be nice to see an overlay of Max's predicted trajectory (assuming impact had been avoided) and whether that trajectory would have left a car's width up the inside at all points around Copse. I assume the stewards have that sort of info, and if it shows Max did leave space then Hamilton is (mostly) at fault IMV. If Max wasn't leaving that space then contact was inevitable and it becomes much more 50-50.
After the impact Hamilton only just remained on track and Leclerc (who took the normal racing line) overtook him up the inside. I do wonder if impact had not happened whether Max would have stayed within track limits, or if he'd have gone wide and Hamilton got up the inside. And if Max had managed to stay within limits would Hamilton have nerfed into the side of him anyway.
AIUI the car on the outside has to leave at least one cars width on the inside at the apex, and stay within track limits on the outside at the end of the corner. In my view Max did the first part, but we'll never know if he could have done the second part, or if he'd have done a Leclerc. The car on the inside has to take a tighter line, and use the one car's width at the apex, and leave at least one cars width on the outside at the end of the corner to avoid 'running the outside car off the track'. Hamilton didn't do the first part, and I've got real doubts that he'd have managed to do the second part either.
So for me, Hamilton was mostly at fault. As for the penalty, I'd probably have gone for the stiffer drive through penalty, which is effectively an 18 second penalty at Silverstone. I suspect Hamilton would still have got back up to second given the ease with which he dealt with Norris. Probably wouldn't have caught Leclerc but it would have been a grandstand finish on the last lap.
