I was very surprised to read those tweets last night.
Also surprised by EJ's reaction and Lauda's comments.

Even though Kobayashi was coming back at Hamilton, the fact is Hamilton's car was there and he turned into it.
Hamilton's move to the left wasn't sudden at all and Kobayashi's car clearly turns into Hamilton. And in no way am I a Hamilton fan.

Most unexpected.

 

The fact is you're wrong, as the video clearly shows:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/form...e/14701124.stm

If you watch from about 41 seconds, Hamilton is in the middle of the track and Kobayashi is about a foot away from the left edge. By 44 seconds Hamilton has moved over to the left to the point where their wheels are intertwined, and Kobayashi has his left wheels on the white line getting as far out of the way as possible. Kobayashi probably did have some more room to avoid the accident if he'd gone up the kerb, but certainly Hamilton squeezed him to the extent where he had to go off the track or collide. As Lauda said of Hamilton, all he had to do was go straight and he'd have taken the corner and kept the place. Martin Whitmarsh saying Hamilton had been hit from behind was clearly nonsense as they were side by side.

It's a lot like the Button-Hamilton incident in Canada, ironically.

 

I love Spa as it never fails to disappoint and well, it didn't this weekend did it! Great race for Button and Schumacher who really impressed me this weekend, congratulations to MSC for 20 years in F1. I was also quite impressed with Rosberg's start although his failure to maintain position despite having a massively faster car on the straights is a problem that I think Mercedes need to look at, i.e. get a better aero package so they can carry more speed through the corners where McMerc and Red Bull could catch them. However, what this weekend did prove was that Mercedes GP are starting to get on the pace and it is very possible that towards the end of this season and moving into next season they could be more of a front runner.

Red Bull had a good race, although I thought asking the stewards whether they could change their geometry because they were over Pirelli's recommended limits for the race was a bit cheeky, they knew what the limits on camber were and decided to go above them to maximise qualifying, you can't then go and ask for a rule to be changed on safety reasons because you tried to exploit the limits in Quali! I think the right decision was made there for sure.

Another so so weekend for Ferrari, they were there but not there. Meh.

Once again McLaren make silly mistakes wrt Button in Quali but thanks to the supreme skill of Button he brings home a podium and some points. Which is more than can be said for Hamilton who had a pretty dismal weekend despite having the best opportunities for a podium and even a win given the pace. Hamilton can be mighty quick and very impressive but he can also have the worst luck or make bad decisions! I think this weekend was very much a combination of the two.

So congrats to Red Bull on another 1-2 and McLaren on making good on a poor weekend really for them. Ferrari have a long way to go!

Good to see Team Lotus getting into Q2 as well and Trulli/Kov finishing a gruelling race and being at the front of the new teams. Just got to try and get into the midfield now!

Next race Monza! Will Mercedes GP with their strong top speed come good here then?

 

Button seems to continually makes his critics eat their words of late in the races. Great over taking from hi yesterday with no shortage of daring do and great driving.

 

Yeh Button is amazing at overtaking recently, really good turn of form over the last couple of races!

 

Clearly.
Hamilton was drifting over to the left, Kobayashi turned in when he could have braked and have avoided the accident.
As one or two said on the BBC coverage, he was never going to overtake Hamilton round the outside so why did he even try?

I'd go with Coulthard's view over Jordan's

 

:0)

 

Hamilton / Kobayashi - Hamilton was in front so was within his rights to move over to the racing line - it was a gradual move, not a sudden swerve so the Kobykazi (who I take a lot of entertainment from, btw) would hardly have been taken by surprise. I think Hamilton SHOULD ultimately have seen him in the mirrors and stopped moving across, likewise Kobayashi should have seen the gap he was aiming for was diminishing and lifted.

Question - had that been a wall on the Valencia street circuit, would he still have kept it pinned? Ultimately, he was only ever going to be trying to overtake Hamilton around the outside of the bend - a move that just wasn't ever going to happen.

Both drivers could have done more, but I think Hamilton was LESS at fault..





Button, though. Can't help wonder if, now he's got a world championship trophy, he's just starting from mid-pack for the sport of it

Look out for a Weetabix sponsorship deal comign soon

 

Doesn't matter how many times you say "turned in", the video shows he was going straight before the impact.

Several people did manage to overtake round the outside. If Hamilton had braked earlier and Kobayashi had made it round the outside, we'd all be hailing it as one of the greatest moves ever. Do we really want racing drivers not to try things just because they probably won't come off?

50/50 I would say. They were both trying it on; they were both playing chicken and not being the first to blink, and they both could have left a bit more room or backed off.

 

Sorry, but you will never ever be a racing driver with comments like that.

Kobayashi had every right to place his car where he wanted. He did so in a clever move to maybe not overtake, but to disadavantage hamilton - prevent the optimal line and therefore try to get a run on him further up the road. Hamilton was a tad arrogant thinking he'd easily cleared Kamui when he hadn't.

Kobay tracked the line on the edge of the circuit. He was on that bit of road before Hamilton.

All this talk of running people out of road is amusing. If another driver is genuniely alongside (as in half way or more), the defending driver must give them space or they are forcing another car off the track. This also goes for those trying to overtake - just because they have the inside, doesn't mean they can drive someone off the road!

This is the simple thing that Hamilton cannot comprehend when he's racing. ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME....