Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, 2019

“Disrespectful” Vettel deserved his penalty – Rosberg

2019 Canadian Grand Prix

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Sebastian Vettel deserved his penalty for rejoining the track unsafely in the Canadian Grand Prix and was “disrespectful” towards the stewards, says Nico Rosberg.

While many ex-F1 drivers have spoken out against the penalty, the 2016 world champion believes it was “absolutely fully deserved.”

Vettel was given a five-second time penalty for rejoining the track unsafely and forcing Lewis Hamilton to take evasive action. It dropped him from first to second place in the final results.

“I wish nothing more than for Vettel to do a great job and to win and have a great fight with Lewis in the championship because that’s what we all want,” said Rosberg. “I was rooting for Vettel out there and I would love him to do well.

“But again we saw this typical thing that when the pressure is on and it’s a battle between Lewis and Vettel, Vettel just makes those mistake. And he made that mistake again.”

Rosberg does not accept Vettel’s claim that he was unable to rejoin the track without getting in Hamilton’s way, saying he could have “easily” given the Mercedes driver more space.

“Vettel was screaming, ‘I had dirt on my tyres, I was out of control, where do you want me to go? I was struggling to control the car, I couldn’t see Lewis.’ OK, great, but Lewis is there. The rule says when you go off the track, you need to rejoin safely. Vettel went all the way across and I think he could have easily left a little bit more space, especially in the latter phase like after Lewis started braking. He could easily have left more space, but he didn’t.

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“He went right, right, all the way there and left hardly any space to Lewis.”And so Lewis saw it as a dangerous situation because Vettel was coming more and more, so he had to back out of it.

“I looked at the replay many, many times,” said Rosberg. “Lewis would have been in the wall had he stayed there because right afterwards Vettel continued to move over more and more and it was so tight that Lewis would have touched either Vettel or the wall. And so it is very, very clear that unfortunately it was an unsafe returning to the track. So that’s the rule. You have to return safely and that is the way it is. A penalty is deserved in that case.”

After the race Vettel strongly criticised the race stewards – Gerd Ennser, Mathieu Remmerie, Mike Kaerne and five-times Le Mans 24 Hours winner Emanuele Pirro – for the decision. Rosberg said his comments were “disrespectful”.

“He has such strong self belief and always thinks that he is in the right, and then always wants to blame other people. And then he just loses focus in those moments, and doesn’t make the most of it. That was not great to see from him. And then after the race, all those gestures and disrespectful comments calling the stewards ‘blind men’ and all that, it’s just unnecessary, it’s not very good.”

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Keith Collantine
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117 comments on ““Disrespectful” Vettel deserved his penalty – Rosberg”

  1. Not even necessarily against the penalty itself,but bloody hell,Rosberg is more sterile than a neutered dog.

    1. I can think of a few other occasions when Vettel has shown disrespect “Multi 21” and bumping Hamilton twice in a Baku virtual safety car procession. I agree with Rosberg irrespective of his sterility. Hamilton would have got the lead if Vettel hadn’t contravened the rules. I like the way Vettel talks and enjoy his summations after a race, however do not like his actions as driver – he has not matured in the way that Hamilton has or Vettel’s now team mate LeClerc

      1. What’s wrong with Multi 21? I thought everyone against team orders? Also, hard to respect Mark after he blocked Seb in Brazil on start.

      2. Lets not forget the temper tantrum at last years brazillian gp and one thrown at Mexican GP 2016 along with name calling race director himself.

    2. How is having the mustard to speak against the majority fitting your definition of sterile and neutered. Or is there some other reason you’re throwing shade?

    3. Peppe (@turbopeppino)
      10th June 2019, 18:06

      Hahahaha, spot on!

    4. Nico is correct, Sebastian went off the track and it was his responsibility to get back onto the track safely, which he didn’t do.
      Sebastian’s behaviour after the race was also disrespectful not just to the Stewards but to F1 as well. What’s the idea of walking through the Mercedes garage without an invitation? No one expects him to like being told he’s second, but he nearly pranged Lewis’s car. It’s as though Sebastian thinks “I drive for Ferrari so we should have special rules”. This is exactly why Ferrari shouldn’t have their veto right regarding rules. What’s Ferrari going to say next time this particular rule comes up for review? Ferrari need to apologise for Sebastian’s behaviour, and he should have been given extra penalties for behaving so badly.

      1. The FIA should fine the spoilt brat for his antics after the race! Nobody is above the law but Vettel is always looking to blame others for his mistakes. I don’t often agree with Rosberg but he called this 100% correct.

    5. Gregory Norman
      10th June 2019, 19:35

      Firstly, as Martin Brundle said, this is a street track, very narrow and without perhaps the naturally assumed applicability of wide tracks and broad run-offs! This is a street track without the correction space to avoid going straight into the racing line. For God’s sake! Hamilton smashed into Kimi in the pit lane during his World Championship year. This wasn’t Hamilton’s only indiscretion. The dumb two-faced arrogant schmuck openly stated yesterday that Seb had contravened the racing rules and reported him like a spoilt little school boy because he was coming 2nd. Everyone talks about Seb “making a mistake/error. Is there an error for not being first? This gleeful behavior is unsporting. I wonder if Schumi would have driven into the 1st position park ferme’ space? I doubt it. Lewis is s good driver. Stick him in a Renault, or a Haas and let’s see Mr Sulky handle that? The F1 “authority” should also wake up and apply a more lateral attitude to street tracks where slippery grass accelerates loss of control at high speed. This is racing!

    6. Formula 1 is no longer a race!
      It’s a shame what happened. Let’s go back to the 80’S that’s racing (minus the crashes)
      Vettel won fair and square even though Hamilton is a better driver.

    7. Rosberg was actually able to beat lewis unlike vettel so maybe vettel should be asking rosberg for tips

      1. You better watch out… the Vettel fans won’t like this comment at all. Lol!

    8. Not sure where you’re going with that because Rosberg does have children! :*)

  2. Not remotely gonna touch whether or not Vettel deserved a penalty (by the letter of the law, yes, but the letter of the law is not meant for this situation) or the ‘disrespect’ for the stewards.

    But, Nico Rosberg, being a massive hypocrite, that I have time for. In his years battling Hamilton, both him and Hamilton went off the road at chicanes and similar corners umpteen times. Never did they come back in a way that wasn’t clearly partially meant to impede the other in their fight. Never did they get a penalty.
    Rosberg has absolutely no right to even comment on this. Something he seems to have forgotten from his vantage point of being a single WC who couldn’t fight on. Say what you will about Vettel, he doesn’t quit.

    1. Actually, I would say, who better @hahostolze, all your argument shows is that he should know what he’s talking about, just like Hamilton in his ‘I would probably have done the same’ bit – where he more or less reaches the same conclusion.

    2. Peppe (@turbopeppino)
      10th June 2019, 18:08

      Exactly. Spot on.

    3. @hahostolze in what way is the letter of the law “not meant for this situation”?

    4. Rosberg has a million followers on YouTube alone. How many people read your comment?

      YOU have no place to talk about Rosberg shutting his mouth. You first please.

      Not even gonna waste a (you) on your comment.

      1. Did you seriously use YouTube followers as a reason why this fella shouldn’t be speaking? Are you like 11 years old or something?

    5. BINGO @hahostolze but the FIA loves ’em some Merc and Hamilton right now so this didn’t surprise me at all. These rules are just ridiculous anymore, it has more to do with who does it and who benefits than anything.

      1. Vettel was forced into a mistake. He cut the corner and lost control on the grass, but managed to right the car just enough not to lose position and forced Hamilton to brake and avoid a collision. Had Vettel not cut the corner he would have lost the position, so he fully deserved the penalty. 5 seconds may have been too lenient. 10 seconds or even a drive through would have been appropriate. If Hamilton had done the same to Vettel you’d be screaming blue murder.

      2. @jblank what’s wrong with it,it’s a valid metric showing people care what your opinion is. N Rosberg, with his million followers, has a much more valuable f1 opinion than you or I, without millions of subs.

        I bet you think your opinion is just as valuable as anyone’s, yet you call me the 11 year old.

        1. Stupid metric, positively stupid. No, I asked if you were 11 years old, big difference, because that was a silly thing to say to him.

    6. @hahostolze spot on mate

    7. @hahostolze so only people without experience should comment then?

      I think the hypocrisy of Rosberg’s comments expired when he hung up his helmet.

      I’ll take his perspective over yours every day of the week.

  3. Who cares about Rosberg’s opinion when we have a lot of other drivers thinking and saying otherwise ? Not me, “for sure”.

    1. If you look around other websites, there are plenty of respected people saying he deserved a penalty. And some not so respected.

      I’d be looking at places other than sky TV (where 2 out of three ex drivers who never raced F1 in the last 20 years, and the third who seems happy to agree with anyone) for opinions.

      My opinion on the penalty is my own as I can’t be bothered with it, frankly, but Vettel does crack under pressure (almost) every time – much more now, but has done regularly for a long time.

      1. Yeah whats up with brundle, hes been getting worse and worse at calling things objectively it’s obvious he has a hard on for vettel and max

      2. i think Mansell’s, Andretti’s opinions said basically they didn’t agree with the penalty. I trust them more than the prima donna Rosberg.

    2. Who cares about Rosberg’s opinion when we have a lot of other drivers thinking and saying otherwise ? Not me, “for sure”.

      Someone agrees with me so they must be right! Enjoy your bubble ;)

    3. I (for one, in a sea of millions), care about Rosbergs comment… YOURS on the other hand… not so much.

      1. The same way I couldn’t care less for your (or your “sea of millions”) opinions, really. As I value a lot more the ones of former classic F1 world champions like Andretti or Mansell, drivers from eras where real racing took place.

    4. @elio he’s trying to stay relevant “for sure” ;)

  4. From another new article – explaining the Stewards actions

    The stewards examined slow motion footage of Vettel’s actions from the moment that he had regained control and started steering his car – and felt the evidence showed that he could have made different choices that would have been within the rules.

    The footage clearly captures Vettel correcting an oversteer moment as he rejoins the track – which is shown by a sharp steering wheel movement to the right.

    Shortly after that, Vettel has sorted the oversteer and begins steering to the left to follow the direction of the circuit – suggesting he is now under control.

    But a split moment later, rather than keeping to the left, Vettel is shown to release the steering wheel – which allows his car to drift to the right, cutting off the route that Hamilton would have taken had he had clear space.

    The movement to straighten the wheel, which put the Ferrari into the path of Hamilton’s Mercedes, is believed to be key to the unanimous decision by the stewards to punish Vettel.

    The stewards also used an extra CCTV camera view of the incident, which was not broadcast on the international television feed, showing Vettel moving his head and looking in the mirrors to see Hamilton was during the moments when he was releasing the wheel to the right.

    On board footage of the Vettel incident also shows his head turning towards the mirrors in the moment when he is drifting out – suggesting he knew where Hamilton was.

    Had Vettel kept his car tight to the left once he had regained control, then there was likely enough room to have allowed Hamilton through on the right – in which case the matter would almost certainly not have been investigated.

    1. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
      10th June 2019, 17:08

      That’s really interesting thanks for quoting. My initial reaction was that I didn’t want to see a pen. But it’s just way too convenient that Seb’s car perfectly cut off Lewis. In that situation you would have 2 reactions 1. Get back on the track 2. Don’t let him past. Seb combined the 2 with lightening reactions and I don’t blame him.

      1. I posted earlier that I think 99/100 people would have made the same move as Seb and I saw LH said he would have too.

        I would love for the FIA to release everything they looked at, but I doubt that will happen because it will set a precedent for all future decisions.

        Maybe a clearer rule is required – if you leave the track (all 4 wheels over the white line) with a competitor within 1/2 second or less you must yield the position for at least 1 corner then begin to fight to regain the position.

        1. @blueruck I agree, I really think it’s just human nature combined with the last gasp, split second decision to maintain the lead. Lucky he didn’t bin it in the wall and doubtful he intended to impede Hamilton, albeit he probably didn’t have time to think about the consequences of his actions. I’ve regretfully done it a few times in Gran Turismo where I’ve made a mistake and tried to salvage a place but it had dire consequences – I more or less wrecked out when a competitor rammed me from behind… Only myself to blame.

        2. @blueruck @rdotquestionmark I think Hamilton even mentioned that it would have just been instinctive; indicating that Seb may not necessarily have done it consciously.

          A bit like when driving a normal car, you can travel for miles without even thinking about driving and then have a moment of “I don’t remember the last 10 miles…” (I call it “autopilot”, except without any such modern systems).

          He legit may not think he impeded Hamilton, but his inner-autopilot-racer which took over to regain control naturally tried to push the boundaries.

          1. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
            11th June 2019, 10:54

            Racers instinct when on autopilot like you say. ‘How do I get away with this mistake’ everyone would do the same. I don’t think Lewis has been given enough credit for his evasive action though.

    2. The real question nobody is looking at though is how useful are the mirrors? And we know from other drivers and incidents the answer is not very so how can we be sure he knew he was there. I don’t think it was a penalty and 3 years ago it definitely was not.

    3. @blueruck – very interesting, thank you.

      1. Yes, that was a very useful article, gives me some peace knowing that it was probably justified, as I’m otherwise raging at fia doing all they can to let merc win all races.

    4. That’s exactly how it looked to me from the behaviour of Vettel’s car. He had lost enough speed and had enough control of his car to avoid forcing Hamilton into the wall but instinctively tried to block to preserve his position. I’d suggest that if Vettel really was out of control that it would have been more obvious in the behaviour of his car and Hamilton would then have instinctively switched to pass him on the inside.

  5. I couldn’t agree more with him.

  6. I lie somewhere between the two arguments with this incident. Firstly, it’s worth remembering that we wouldn’t be having the discussion if Vettel hadn’t faltered under pressure again. It seems a common theme at the minute for Vettel and he has only himself to blame for giving the stewards the opportunity to penalise him.

    That said; it was a small mistake. A wobble under braking and a trip across one of the only patches of grass left in Formula One at the moment. I am convinced that Vettel didn’t try to block Hamilton per se. He skidded across the grass and had eyes only on not hitting the wall at that moment. He would have known Hamilton was around, but as he was behind, it’s up to Hamilton to avoid Vettel.

    Formula One is disgustingly sterile at the moment. 2nd place is scared to make a move for 1st place in case they are penalised by the stewards. Drivers are creeping around trying not to shred tyres. Cars are turned down to save engines. After lap 1, there is simply no motivation to push for a better result than the car deserves. Let them race. If a driver is turfed off the track, so be it… maybe they’ll be more careful next time. I was raging at the television hearing Grosjean complain to the team after Perez had the audacity to pass him at turn one mid-race.

    After certain races I feel very grumpy about the state of modern Formula One; yesterday’s was one of them.

    1. Andreas Gandor
      10th June 2019, 16:59

      +1
      espacially for
      “After lap 1, there is simply no motivation to push for a better result than the car deserves”

    2. He skidded across the grass and had eyes only on not hitting the wall at that moment.

      And that’s why he had the time to look into the mirror as he was squeezing hamilton to the right?

      1. @skipgamer – I’d urge you to watch again. From what I can judge from his head movements, the first time he’s able to look in his mirror is after his right wheels are against the white line (track limits). Granted, his instinct is to look in that mirror (rather than his left), so he must have known Hamilton would be attacking that side.

        1. The Autosport article is pretty clear that the stewards were certain he knew Hamilton was there and moved over despite having the car under control.

          Also very clear that Ferrari were welcome to protest if they want to.

          1. @skipgamer – I’m sure the stewards are better educated on the matter than me and have more data on it, but from what I can see, I don’t see that Vettel could do much more. My understanding was that Ferrari were protesting it? I might be wrong.

          2. @ben-n in case you haven’t heard it:

            The movement to straighten the wheel, which put the Ferrari into the path of Hamilton’s Mercedes, is believed to be key to the unanimous decision by the stewards to punish Vettel.

            The stewards also used an extra CCTV camera view of the incident, which was not broadcast on the international television feed, showing Vettel moving his head and looking in the mirrors to see Hamilton was during the moments when he was releasing the wheel to the right.

            As for the protest, well there hasn’t been yet. We wait with baited (heh) breath. It could be overturned, but I can’t help but feel Vettel’s outburst is akin to a child being caught with his hand in the cookie-jar then throwing a tantrum trying to convince a parent he wasn’t doing anything wrong.

    3. +1

      Vettel just tried to minimize time loss and get back in the racing line as fast as possible. Unfortunately Hamilton being so close and the FIA decision it ended up like this. #letthemrace

      1. It doesn’t work like that, rejoining a track you can’t just drive straight across to the racing line, your simply not aloud.

        This rules runs all the way back to Karting so, at f1 speeds this is highly dangerous.

        He made the mistake!! you have to lift and bail and give way to traffic on the racing line

      2. Vettel just tried to minimize time loss and get back in the racing line as fast as possible.

        Yep! Very much the definition of not rejoining the track safely. Stewards should have probably given Vettel a penalty for that …. oh wait they did.

        1. Actually, if we go really deep into this, just like the stewards (think they) do, VET rejoined the track safely, technically speaking. That side of the track where he rejoined it is exactly the opposite side of the racing line so, not used by drivers. Nobody was expected to come on that patch of tarmac, nobody raced there during the race except for VET. VET’s problem is that the stewards made 1 big issue by connecting 2 different maneouvers: his track return with the defending move. If these 2 actions would have happened at some distance one from another – 100meters, more than sure there would have been no penalty. Without the off-track excursion, the squeezing VET applied to HAM is just another defending maneouver. HAM in Monaco, on the other side, cut the chicane and rejoined the track directly on the racing line. VET did not rejoin the track directly on the racing line, he was already on-track when he decided to block the racing line.

          1. If these 2 actions would have happened at some distance one from another – 100meters, more than sure there would have been no penalty

            So what you are saying is … if he had rejoined safely then he wouldn’t have got a penalty? I agree! Phew glad we got to the bottom of that. We can all sleep easily now knowing that Vettel did indeed rejoin in an unsafe manner and got rightly punished for it.

    4. Formula One is disgustingly sterile at the moment. 2nd place is scared to make a move for 1st place in case they are penalised by the stewards. Drivers are creeping around trying not to shred tyres. Cars are turned down to save engines. After lap 1, there is simply no motivation to push for a better result than the car deserves. Let them race. If a driver is turfed off the track, so be it… maybe they’ll be more careful next time. I was raging at the television hearing Grosjean complain to the team after Perez had the audacity to pass him at turn one mid-race.

      This sums it up for me

      Micromanaging steward decisions, material that must last for more than a race, weird tyre regulations with wack tyres, crying drivers, ad so on

      I just want to see tough men racing each other

      1. Go watch Camping World Truck then, it’s not like you’re not spoilt for racing of every variety under the sun in every country in the world.

        I want to hear the opinions of people who like the sport for what it is, not those who wish is was something else, crying over the internet that despite their perfect racing existing in other series, if this one doesn’t cater for them, then they will have a tantrum about it.

    5. Ferrari had slower pace on hards. He didn’t crack under pressure, he was driving on his edge. Like in Bahrain 2018, when he like lion defended against very fast Bottas

  7. Adam (@rocketpanda)
    10th June 2019, 16:33

    Bore off, Rosberg. Seen you do a lot worse and not get penalised.

  8. Ah, that’s the guy who claimed just a few days ago that Hamilton is unbeatable in Montreal? :)) lost all respect for him in the light of his recent cheap social media activity.

    1. Your name says it all. You’re just here to provoke controversy. Nothing wrong in that, but it’d be nice to see if you could think other thoughts.

    2. What am I missing? Hamilton won in Canada?

    3. F1oSaurus (@)
      10th June 2019, 20:40

      @pironitheprovocateur Agree with Xcm. Hamilton won. What’s your confusion?

      Hamilton would have won on track if Vettel had raced fairly, but instead he won after the rightful penalty that Vettel received. Same difference.

      Amazingly he did so even though Ferrari clearly had the fastest car (at least in Leclerc’s hands it was half a second faster than the mercs).

      So how is that for an unbeatable driver?

      1. The only thing that’s important is the trophy in the Mercedes factory, I understand that you naturally need to legitimize this “victory”. I’m not gonna explain my point of view since I did several times, the only thing I’m gonna say is that there’s an infinite number of ways you can distort reality to fit your own narrative, and the false argument of Vettel winning only because of this minor incident is one of them. Hamilton was pushing him for the rest of the race, how did he fail to capitalize on it? I’m sure that such a champion wouldn’t have a problem to get in front of Vettel on merit. Saying he deserved the victory either way is a totalitatian way of thinking.

  9. JV is that you? What have you done with Nico?

  10. Shut up Britney

  11. Rosberg was one of the biggest
    cheats in F1 and to much of a coward to defend his ill won championship, no time for this person

  12. I am split on this, actually. As a matter of principle, I am big proponent on strict track limits…just because there is no gravel anymore, the limits should not be ignored. So from that angle, I would give a penalty to everyone who puts all four wheels over the white line…period. But the current regulations are not like that…instead is all all about these ambiguous interpretations if someone gained advantage, or whether they were avoiding an accident, and so forth. In that sense, Vettel did not necessarily gain advantage and in a way was trying to avoid an accident, even if it would have been his own. Hamilton too was avoiding an accident by not going for that rapidly shrinking gap and hitting the brakes instead. So, a plain racing incident after all…nothing more.

  13. That penalty was actually a bargain for Vettel!
    Look at the cockpit video, after Seb returns to track, he clearly turns hard into Hamilton’s racing line; in fact so much that he actually looses his rear wheels in the WRONG direction which completely falsifies his claim of “what do I do” in terms of returning fairly!
    I’m all for NOT breaking apart cars at pace, possibly putting human lives into a wall, and possibly involving a third car (Vettel’s own team-mate) running only second back. We don’t need deaths or mangled drivers to have exciting racing. Lastly, Hamilton was very likely going to get around Seb soon enough, but once the penalty was announced, Toto told said for Lewis to hug the transmission of Seb, IE: Lewis had Team Orders to Not Pass, likely given by Toto to stave off the possibility of damaging the silver car from Vettel’s often child like driving everytime he screws-up on track.

  14. Glad to see Rosberg standing up, more will over time I think. Been loving his podcast lately, the last two episodes with Wolff and Ricciardo I think are absolute must-listens. Incredible insight.

    People who have no good counter point to make with their one line teasing here in the comments. No-lifers.

  15. Mark in Florida
    10th June 2019, 17:08

    He is still in the pay of the empire isn’t he? He is just parroting what the team’s story is. No real opinion here. The stewards can tell whatever story they want but the paddock and fans still want to tar and feather them like a tax collector.

    1. Do not speak for me mark in Florida.

  16. I really, really liked Rosberg when he raced and I don’t quite understand his take here, nor what he’s trying to achieve.

    1. I have to say, it was better when watching his (about a quarter of an hour) youtube podcast on it @mxmxd

  17. Josh (@canadianjosh)
    10th June 2019, 17:31

    This would be a good definition in the Webster’s dictionary of the word hypocrite.

  18. Rosberg is in no position to talk about anyone losing their cool in the heat of the moment, OR DOES HE NEED SOME REMINDING about his own stupidity?

    1. Remind us.

      All I remember is borderline stuff, like Monaco.
      Furthermore I feel like Rosberg would’ve shut up and and took his penalty like a man if need be. Something vettel cant seem to do.

      Lewis definately would have.

      1. LOL you forget Austria, XCM, which was one of the dirtiest driver exhibitions in the last five years.

        1. So what would you call display during Mexican GP 2016 when a certain driver namecalled race director himself or Baku 2017 when this same certain driver used car as a weapon or Brazillian GP 2018 when again this certain driver couldnt follow simple instructions and threw a temper tantrum. Whats worse is the team castrated itself and its deceased president to support such an idiot of “world champion:

        2. So please explain what would you call driver exhibitions at Mexican GP 2016 where name calling race director is part of temper tantrum or at Azerbaijan GP 2017 where car was used as a weapon or Interlagos 2018 where disregarding instructions from Scrutineering and then throwing temper tantrun against scrutineer team is done.

  19. Kughaho Sumi
    10th June 2019, 17:50

    Hah…. Cheap shot in wanting his name around by making controversial statement.

  20. Neil (@neilosjames)
    10th June 2019, 17:51

    From a purely rational, rule-based perspective he’s entirely correct.

    From a point of view of being a bit less tough in applying racing rules, and allowing a bit of wiggle room, he’s wrong.

  21. It’s just funny to read the opinion of this hypocrite who squeezed Hamilton off the track twice intentionally during 2016 (Spain & Austria) and escaped any penalty.
    We lost you for good three years ago and Mercedes is a far better team since then.

    1. F1oSaurus (@)
      10th June 2019, 20:45

      @ahmedschomi Rosberg did get a penalty in Austria though and again in Germany for doing the same on Verstappen.

      He bizarrely enough didn’t get a penalty however for driving into Hamilton in Spa 2014 on purpose even after he admitted he did it “to make a point”.

      1. @f1osaurus Indeed, you are right, but he got the penalty in Austria for dragging his broken front wing all the way to the finish line putting debris everywhere on the track not for the incident with Hamilton itself.

        And yes, bizarrely the FIA considered all the incidents between him and Hamilton as an internal Mercedes issues and didn’t impose any penalty on either during 2014-2016 (as far as I remember).

        1. F1oSaurus (@)
          11th June 2019, 17:43

          @ahmedschomi Nope he got the 10 second penalty for hitting Hamilton.

          Fact Causing a collision with car 44 in turn 2.
          Offence Involved in an incident as defined by Article 38.1 of the FIA Formula One Sporting
          Regulations.
          Decision 10 Second Time Penalty imposed after the race in accordance with Article 38.3 (10
          seconds added to elapsed race time)
          (2 penalty points awarded, 2 points total for the 12 month period).
          Reason Having taken note of the extensive evidence given by both drivers and the video and
          telemetry data, it was apparent that Car 44 (HAM) was in front of Car 6 (ROS) – i.e.
          more than fully alongside – and that the driver of Car 44 could have clearly made the
          turn (T2) on the track, if not for the resultant collision. Car 6 did not allow Car 44
          “racing room” and hence the driver of Car 6 was responsible for the collision

          Fact The driver continued on the track with a damaged car spreading debris and with the
          front wing detached
          Offence Breach of Article 12.1.1 h) of the FIA International Sporting Code
          Decision Reprimand
          This is the driver’s 1st reprimand of the current season.
          Reason Article 22.11 of the Formula One Sporting Regulations requires a driver with serious
          mechanical difficulties to leave the track as soon as it is safe to do so. We do note the
          extenuating circumstances and the fact that the driver of Car 6 (ROS) did slow down
          significantly and attempted to mitigate the risk to other drivers and cars.

          Indeed the stewards rarely seem to intervene when two team mates hit each other. Not just for Mercedes, but also when Verstappen was weaving all over the track in Baku until finally Ricciardo ened up into the back. Also I think the 2010 Turkey incident between Vettel and Webber, Vettel didn’t get any penalty for ramming into Webber on the straight.

  22. Rosberg reminding everyone why he’s not missed.

    1. Roseberg should just stick to Modelling and wearing his feminine type clothing instead of commenting on this dying sport of F1, he was one of the most penalized drivers in F1 and should learn to Shut Up and Watch ! 2 teams dominate a sport for decades and people wonder why this sport is becoming more unpopular year after year ? I mean, what other sport can you predict with %100 confidence who is going to win, it’s Ferrari or Mercs !! That’s exciting Eh ? Then you throw in these stupid penalties from F1A stewards, taking away deserved leads and wins and you have the recipe for failure !! It sure is getting boring !!

    2. János Henkelmann
      11th June 2019, 2:56

      +1… what a boring, soft-washed guy…

  23. The more Rosberg says the less I like him.

    1. I’m the same way. I actually kind of liked him when he first went to Merc.

  24. Panagiotis Papatheodorou (@panagiotism-papatheodorou)
    10th June 2019, 18:28

    Oh yeah the guy who crashed on Lewis in Austria 2016. Lewis and Nico didn’t really race “safely” many times, did they?

  25. It’s clear Nico doesn’t like Seb. Hes always having little digs at him. Maybe it’s a German thing… Maybe not… There is something bad between them though…

    1. @ming-mong Whether or not he likes Seb is his prerogative.

      The very least he can support Vettel in a sense of being able to contribute towards a closer championship battle than we are currently seeing. Cue…

      “I wish nothing more than for Vettel to do a great job and to win and have a great fight with Lewis in the championship because that’s what we all want,” said Rosberg. “I was rooting for Vettel out there and I would love him to do well.

      It’s a shame all of that gets boiled to “well he doesn’t like Seb anyway”.

  26. Funny isn’t it, everyone loved Rosberg because he beat Hamilton (even if it was narrowly with far superior reliability), now he gives a valid opinion on Vettel everyone hates him. God bless the internet.

    1. Indeed, and now you’ve got people leaving the site because Keith doesn’t agree with their viewpoint…

      1. Like I said in another comment, you’ll find that the opinions of certain “fans” shift on a weekly basis depending on how well their favorite driver fared (and they get especially heated if their least favorite driver fares better). They lose all sense of fairness & logic and are just blatantly in fan service regardless.

  27. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
    10th June 2019, 19:41

    Regardless of the incident I hate ‘time’ penalties. I appreciate it’s a necessary evil if there isn’t going to be another pit stop, but it’s just the fact we see a car cross the finish line in first place that isn’t the race winner. I wish there was a penalty that was an equivalent of 5 seconds on track. Like the FIA can disable your MGU-K for one lap (that’s a joke btw).

    1. Simple. Vettel could have been told to allow Hamilton to pass him. If he doesn’t comply within 2 laps, 5 second penalty.

      1. Simple. Vettel could have been told to allow Hamilton to pass him. If he doesn’t comply within 2 laps, 5 second penalty.

        Except Roth Man was specifically talking about not having time penalties so….

        Simple. Vettel could have been told to allow Hamilton to pass him. If he doesn’t comply within 2 laps, drive through penalty.

        Which isn’t that how it worked before the 5 / 10 second time penalties came in?

        1. As if a drive through isn’t a time penalty. And since a drive through costs at least 20 seconds, it’s much harsher. And what happens if the incident requiring a penalty happens during the last lap?

      2. This would’ve made the most sense, all Vettel would’ve needed to do is stay close to Hamilton over one lap and then destroy him with slipstream and DRS within sector 3 of the track. From looking on the pole lap side by side with Hamilton that is what made the difference. Then again if he just left room, allowed Hamilton by, he could’ve done this himself without steward intervention. Ferrari were quick this weekend but this could also be an issue of confidence.

  28. Half the posters on here dissing Rosberg will be holding him up as some sort of F1 oracle the next time he says something that backs up their latest post.

    1. the next time he says something that backs up their latest post

      The next time he says something negative about Hamilton instead you mean?

  29. Ferrari fans were happy enough to see Max penalised for rejoining the track, in front of Kimi, in a dangerous manner after cutting across the grass at the chicane in Suzuka last year.

    1. F1oSaurus (@)
      10th June 2019, 20:53

      @gnosticbrian Exactly, and one of those adamant that Verstappen had received a just penalty was Vettel! He actually commented on that penalty as a demonstration of how unruly Verstappen’s behavior was. Vettel lumped it in with the incident where he blamed Verstappen for not letting him just drive by in Spoon curve when Vettel imagined there was a gap.

      Guess that’s what is called Karma. Just like when Vettel kept on complaining about Verstappen’s driving. Which got the “Verstappen rule” added and the first (and only driver) to fall foul of this rule was Vettel himself.

      1. I think Verstappen was fully in control of his car and he used the asphalt runoff. How about comparing it to Monaco 2016 instead?

  30. I’ve been a fan of F1 since the early 80’s and there have been many decisions that have been questionable over the years but in the end I think what goes around comes around. It’s a shame that we did not see LH go for it more after the penalty was announced but he’s playing the longer game and I guess I can’t blame him for that.

    As an aside I am so fed up with reading all about how F1 is spoiled by the Merc dominance, it was ever thus, Williams, McClaren, RBR & Ferrari have all had periods of greatness and were untouchable in their day. I respect Merc and Toto for their team and performance focus, one day there will be another team ruling the roost until then I am happy to see the Merc Duo tough it out and hope Ferrari can put this aside and Seb can bring it on, he’s a great driver and even if it’s a little hard to watch the post race antics I can’t really blame him, no one wins without passion.

  31. Look up the comments made by Vettel last year after the Max/Kimi incident in Japan.

    In effect he said the other driver, Lewis in this case, shouldn’t have to take avoiding action.

    If it was true last year, it was true on Sunday.

  32. All these penalies do nothing for the sport , a driver now has to be 100% that he can make the move cleanly or face a penalty that can end his race . They talk of making F1 more appealing and axiting (as its so boreing now) then stop the drivers from racing who are also under pressure from the teams and the sponsors that are paying millions to advertise . Make the cars more evan and let the drivers race that alone will bring the fans back !!!

  33. If it wasn’t for Leclerc and Max I wouldn’t watch at all anymore. Seriously, aren’t you tired of Lewis and Seb. We are watching them for decades now, it is a miracle the sport has viewers left. I solved it by ignoring these two (whats sporty about giving two blokes all the money and the best cars) and watching the rest of the field… one day these two will thankfully leave. Can’t wait. Used to be a big Hamilton fan, but it is just getting ridiculously boring and I feel it diminishes his original achievements. The car is the winner now, where it used to be Lewis

    1. F1oSaurus (@)
      11th June 2019, 18:04

      How about Hamilton pressuring Vettel for most of the race? Hos is that any different from Verstappen?

      Hamilton could also simply have hung back by 3 seconds (like Vettel did in Monaco) and turned Canada in an utter snoozefest.

      Now Hamilton keeps the pressure on until Vettel cracks andthen Vettel simply puts him int he wall. Hamilton deserves more credit for that race than blundering Vettel did.

  34. Vettel needs to reassess his career. Maybe take a break like others have done. His mojo has left the building.

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