Lewis Hamilton also didn't see what happened! Which seems to be a bit of a pattern: he claimed Webber "came out of nowhere" at the end of Q3 even though Webber was just behind him a moment before. Clearly he needs to learn some awareness of other road users.

 

Massa tried to overtake Hamilton round the outside entering the chicane - he wasn't "using his mind".

Even if he Hamilton didn't see Massa as he claimed, he left Massa more room than Vettel did Button at the start.

 

I think we need to get some perspective here.

The mirrors on an F1 car are small, wobble about when at speed, and when your braking from xxxmph to enter a corner they probably get nothing more than a quick glance at. Also over taking on the outside like Massa tried was nothing more than futile, and knowing that he's had some incidents already this season with Hamilton, I would have thought Massa might have had some more sense himself.

 

It's on youtube (in mirror image) for the moment

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6HO-h2gtSY[/media]

Here's Button and Vettel for comparison

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvcbKZpZqws[/media]

 

If you watch the Vettel onboard footage you see Vettel tilt his head to the right as he's looking in that mirror. At the end of the race JB asks Vettel "what happened at the start". Vettel said something along the lines of "I didn't see you"

 

No, it really doesn't

I agree. You can be quickest in sector 1, sector 2 and sector 3, have the fastest lap but the winner is the driver who gets his car to the finish line before anyone else.

Knowing when to push, or when to back off, knowing how to manage your tyres, fuel, overtake without smashing yours and otehr cars up - combined with raw pace... I don't see too much evidence of that lately.
[/quote]

 

Hamilton had a puncture, and what the onboard footage showed was how slow Hamilton had been in the preceeding corner meaning Massa was always going to be right on him. It wasn't a desperate lunge by Massa around the outside. He said he had no idea Massa was there, but just like the Q3 incident (at the same place) he slowed in the middle of the track when there was somebody right behind him, and then was surprised that there was suddenly a car alongside him.

I don't think "leaving room" really applies. It was near identical to the Spa incident. Hamilton moved left to take a slow right hand corner when there was somebody alongside and hit them. He admitted as much after Spa, and he admitted today he had no idea Massa was there. Even if you ignore the puncture, and the fact he was coming into the pits, and don't accept he didn't know Massa was there, what was there to gain by pushing someone on the outside on the grass on the approach to a slow right hander? Nothing at all. Just like in Spa all he had to do was go in a straight line and take the lead through the corner. At least what Vettel did at the start could be called racing because Button was trying to get up the inside.

I was shouting "no Lewis not again!" at the TV, and expecting the inevitable drive through and post-race sulkiness. I just wish he'd stop doing these stupid things.

 

Great race for Button and great to see McLaren on top after a fantastic and very strong weekend. They brought a new rear wing to Singapore, designed for Suzuka and it paid off magnificiently, great result and it is good to see JB do well.

Respect must be paid to RBR and Vettel this year who has just been so dominant that even as a staunch McLaren fan, you have to admit that the RBR team are just on a different league at the moment, the people they have, the energy they put in and the consistentcy of their drivers is second to none. Big respect to CG and all those who work so hard at RBR to generate great racing every weekend by Seb and Mark. RBR truly deserve both championships this year as they quite simply out-classed the competition.

However, as with all things in F1, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes and even Force India will be back next year with an even better car and McLaren especially have a pretty quick chassis to develop rather than building an entirely new car like the 2011 car. McLaren are developing the 2011 into the 2012 car and have more data on DRS, KERS and most importantly the Pirelli tyres that I think next year McLaren will be much faster, but equally all the teams combined will be much faster as they can develop the cars from the lessons learnt this season. I don't think Vettel will have an easy run like this year, which is why s2k_nut I think JB will have the edge, purely because he is more experienced, is very consistent, can look after his tyres and is brilliant in adverse conditions and will probably be in a car that is as good or better than RBR next year. So JB for 2012 WDC!

I agree with Dembo on Hamilton. Hamilton proved in 2007 when he came into the sport that he was mega quick, in 2008 when he won the WDC he proved beyond doubt, he doesn't need to prove he is quick at every race meet by making kamikaze moves. Everyone knows he is quick, but he needs to prove that he can be as consistent and as reliable as Vettel and JB, who have shown when they won their WDCs that winning and getting podiums at every race meeting wins you the WDC and not making silly mistakes and unforced errors which Hamilton seems to be struggling with at the moment. We all know he can win another WDC, which is why it is so frustrating that he is going through this run of bad luck and poor judgement now. I think he needs his father back as his manager to settle him down to be honest.

I love Suzuka as a track, I think it is one of the best tracks in the season and produced some great racing today, I thourghly enjoyed it and once again, congratulations to Vettel and Button for a great race. Teflonso had a good race too, lest us forget, but he is also a prick so the less said about him the better!! Haha

Next stop, South Korea! Will get the info up on Wednesday probs.

Graham

 

Not so. Hamilton pitted on Lap 9 for his puncture. The incident between him and Massa took place on Lap 22.

From http://www.formula1.com/live_timing/live_timing.html

 

Hamilton was lucky for not getting punished for the puncture thing. He seemed to be trying to slow the pack down on purpose IMO. Nice to see him helping Jenson out, but he's walking a fine line.