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TheGiantHogweed wrote:

mikeyg123 wrote:

TheGiantHogweed wrote:

mikeyg123 wrote:

TheGiantHogweed wrote: Verstappen did ask to team to look at it and they said they had seen it and told him exactly what it was. But he kept going full speed despite this. Not that other drivers haven't done similar but I think Verstappen is very bad at this. Spa this year for example. It was simply idiotic to keep going fast and keep accelerating when you could tell your car was not steer as it should (which he was trying out). That was one of the most stupid ways to crash out this year.

But then I can't say Leclerc is great in this area this year either. He IMO should have been given points on his licence or a grid drop next race for the manner in which he drove back to the pits in Monaco. Other drivers have managed to do an entire lap on a really long track with a puncture and get back out unharmed. He destroyed the possibility of him finishing. His car was flying all over the place. I still do wonder why more drivers are not punished for these things. When they know their car is damaged, they should drive slower IMO. I'm more concerned for safety than anything else. It could well be the case that they will change the approach to this once something bad happens...

It's there job to drive as quickly as possible. I don't think we want them driving off the pace due to minor front wing damage that they can't even see. It's also a pretty unrealistic expectation. They can't even get them to slow down for waved yellow flags. Drivers have always driven with damaged front wings. I remember in Fuji 07 Button did a number of laps without one.

If the race director thinks something is dangerous then it is up to them to act.

But i just feel that given so many bad things have happened in motor sport more recently, they really should make changes by now. Maybe not force them to drive that slow, but i think they should start forcing drivers to box if they have loose parts on their car.

It is a fact that this instance with Verstappen in Spain could have gone terribly wrong if Vettel hadn't reacted. I feel they only start to make changed once something has gone wrong... It was still bouncing high and had he taken the normal like, it likely would have slid up his front wing and towards the cockpit. I may be in the minority, but i really think they should change allowing drivers to stay out even with a small amount of damage if this sort of thing can happen.

Then I am confused. What are you actually blaming Verstappen for? It seems to me like you expect him to have taken unprecedented measures to ensure his car return as safely as possible to the pits. No driver does this. Verstappen wasn't instructed to do it and the race director didn't ask him to. I don't see how his actions here can be criticised regardless of if you think the race director should have intervened.

I don't think i am exactly against verstappen other than the crash in the first place (that i really think should have got some penalty). I just personally think that the team and/or driver should get punished for these things. I understand that Leclerc got punished, and I think Verstappen last year should have got punished too. But at leased he did not ignore orders. Unfortunate for the driver sometimes if the team haven't given them the advice about the damage. But drivers often get penalties for team related problems.

But if the stewards criticized Ferrari for telling Leclerc to stay out when he had a damaged car (part of the reason why he got a penalty), this is effectively why i think verstappen should have had one too. It is a very similar situation and i understand the reasons for Leclerc getting one. But Verstappen got away with hitting Stroll and nearly having his end plate ruin several other drivers races.

mikeyg123 wrote:Ok, I've just watched it. The end plate falls off 4 corners after the damage. Certainly well before Verstappen or Red Bull could be expected to make an assessment regarding safety.

Red Bull reported to Verstappen later in the lap "You have end plate damage but structurally the wing is fine". I honestly can't see how you can possibly fairly blame him for continuing to push.