Daniel Ricciardo, Renault, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, 2019

Ricciardo: Bottas fight was highlight of race

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In the round-up: Daniel Ricciardo says he was pleased to be able to put up a fight against Valtteri Bottas’s Mercedes for a few laps during the Canadian Grand Prix.

What they say

To be honest I’m pretty happy with that. I knew that from my starting position the race was probably going to be more defence than attack. I think actually in the end to beat one of [the Red Bulls] was strong. Sixth and seventh was strong.

Probably the most positive thing was holding off Bottas for so long and just being in that fight with a Mercedes for a few laps, that was cool. I would have loved to do it with Max as well but I think he was coming with too much pace at the end with that tyre so he got me very easily. I think with Bottas as well what it showed is that even when he had DRS we still had pretty good straight line speed. I feel we’ve bridged the gap a lot. There’s still a lot of work to do but it’s certainly looking good.

Quotes: Dieter Rencken

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Comment of the day

Toro Rosso were right to push for Carlos Sainz Jnr to get a penalty, says Adam:

The fact Albon still got through isn’t relevant – the fact he blocked him is. He had enough space in those corners to give him room but he didn’t, so the penalty is justified without taking into account he was ahead of the Toro Rossos and they’d prefer he wasn’t. If it were the other way around McLaren would lobby for a penalty too.
Adam (@Rocketpanda)

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17 comments on “Ricciardo: Bottas fight was highlight of race”

  1. I’ll take Alex Wurz’ verdict on the case of Vettel v Hamilton.

    Case closed.

  2. János Henkelmann
    10th June 2019, 2:15

    So basically all of the former drivers are on Vettel’s side :D

    1. Surprised? I’m not. They all speak logic. Very disappointed in F1 today… The people having a go at Seb on this site is a bit of a shame too. Oh well, onwards and upwards to the next game of ping pong!

      1. They are all wrong actually (other than Rosberg), and probably have not seen all the footage. If, as the stewards suggest, Vettel had straightened up and gained control of the car, looked in his mirror, and then veered into Hamilton, that is a definite penalty (and 5 seconds is soft). It’s not the first time he has intentionally tried to cause a collision. It’s almost like he has a panic mode that doesn’t care about his own safety or that of other drivers.

    2. Chilton says pretty clearly that ANY driver knows if he came off the power he could rejoin on the inside. So he DID have control and therefore the penalty (the most lenient they could give) is entirely justified.

      Case closed.

  3. I think the hulk was asked to hold position with Ric who wrecked his tyres with the boot fight

  4. I’m with Mario. Stewards should only interfere in extreme situations. This one was far from it. If there’s doubt, it should be left as a racing incident and let them carry on.

    1. I would sooner the Stewards make the call before a crash, rather than wait till after.

      Despite what Vettel says about his control, or lack of control of the car, the stewards saw the data and had slow mo of Vettel control of the steering, eg the driver cockpit cam.

      They would have seen from the data when he accelerated, and where he pointed the car as he came off the grass. Vettel knew exactly what he was doing when he pointed the car back on to the racing line.

      Only Hamilton’s reactions prevented an accident

      1. > Only Hamilton’s reactions prevented an accident

        God bless

        1. All Hail the savior

  5. I know a lot of you guys don’t like football, but there are two frequent muttered comments:
    1) the referee’s decision is final.
    2) even the referee can make mistakes.
    After a controversial decision, the football association will either back the ref or give him a week or two off / demote him to games in a lower league for a few weeks as an acknowledgement that he was wrong and to take him out of the limelight for a while.

    The most significant development today will be for the FIA or Liberty to come forward and back the stewards and their decision… OR… more likely they will say nothing, so instead we will have to play the long game and take note of when these stewards (I only know Emanuele Pirro of the three) are next in charge.
    If they are not seen again all season, then we will have our answer.

    1. They enforced the rules, which are quite clear and which Vettel broke. There isn’t really a controversy here. It’s really nothing more than some fans being disappointed about the outcome of the race.

  6. I think Mario Andretti has pretty much hit the nail on head there though all of those comments make sense to me.

    I truly hope that Cyril Abiteboul’s comment is genuine and not just PR hype. This is where Renault should have been from the start of the season. Great – though overdue – result for them.

    A sense of positivity in the Williams camp has to be a good thing also.

  7. Oh – and as for the “Roborace” thing I didn’t watch it and I dread the day when the safety snowflakes and eco warrior types manage to stop anyone from doing anything even remotely risky or enjoyable.

  8. This debate is going to rumble and rumble but there is clear consistency from the drivers who have waded into the debate, which is very refreshing. I can’t see the appeal changing anything other than how stewards review incidents going forward.

    I get the sense that the stewards feel the need to assign blame in respect of every single incident that happens out on track, which I don’t think is the correct approach. Some things are just racing incidents and should be left uninvestigated and unpunished, as Mario Andretti suggested, only the worst driving should be put in front of the stewards.

    I can see how they got to their decision and I understand their rationale, but they reached that decision after having watched replay after replay, after checking data and having a debate about what Vettel’s mindset was at that precise moment from a postmodern existential perspective, possibly after a transcendental meditation session (probably). Looking at it that way, it’s little wonder why they issued a penalty. The fact is though, Vettel made a mistake and was trying to recover the car…he probably didn’t have time to think about anything else in that moment.

  9. I think there are too many regulations in F1 now which dictate how the drivers are allowed to race. I think they should all be taken away & that they should only look at incidents involving contact or where something that was actually dangerous/unsporting occurred.

    I think back to races like & some of the moves Senna used to do on track to hold off his rivals & wonder how much of what we used to see as great racing would be penalized today & I just think it’s wrong.

    For me yesterday we had 2 of the top drivers pushing one another hard all race where there was always the possibility an overtake may occur & I was really enjoying watching it. Vettel made a mistake & slid off but I think what happened when he came back on was just a racing incident that didn’t warrant a penalty & the penalty itself then just took all the enjoyment out of the race for me. A race that I would have looked back on as been really enjoyable due to the lead battle all day became something that made me want to turn off because of how angry/disheartened that decision made me.

    I’m a racing fan & I want to see drivers racing, I want to see them pushing each other & I want to see them left to race without having to constantly wonder what move was legal & what wasn’t.

    1. @stefmeister I initially couldn’t decide whether a penalty would be necessary or not (before the info about the investigation was shown in the form of the TV graphics), but ultimately I resorted to agreeing with the Stewards’ decision even if it wasn’t a definite clear-cut case. He should’ve rejoined the track in a different angle to avoid forcing LH to brake and or lift-off. He should’ve rejoined from as left as possible, i.e., as close as possible to the tyre barrier/trackside wall rather than jump across the track straight onto the racing line, which is how he managed to maintain a position he would’ve otherwise have lost, i.e., gained a lasting advantage in the process.

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