Accusing me of being biased is a bit hypocritical of you when you're obviously and blatantly defending Hamilton when he DID deserve a penalty god damn it.
He would have been given one if he had deserved it. After all, the stewards are not exactly hesitant to do that, are they?
If it wasnt for the release, then it was for speeding like he did, almost losing it, and then racing side by side when he knew he had to yield. The word was that Hamilton was on "thin ice" cos of the Petrov incident last race and here he goes doing what the hell he wants again and getting away with another "reprimand".
There's no rule that says you mustn't drive side by side in the pit lane. Also, Hamilton didn't exceed the speed limit, and there constantly are drivers who give it the berries when pulling out and slide around while doing so.
For sure, what Hamilton did was dangerous as well as unnecessary, but so was Vettel's pushing. Maybe Hamilton would have got a penalty if Vettel wouldn't have responded that way, who knows?
Yes you're right, I dont like Hamilton, and it's nothing to do with his driving style, or his nationality, or team, or anything. I dislike him cos he's been treated preferentially all along. Again I remind you of that one very wet race where he spun off on the same corner that some other 4 cars had gone off, and the crane picked him up and placed him back on the track.
There is a rule that when a car which has landed in the gravel is still driveable (no major damage, engine still running), and it is quicker to put it back on the track than to move it away, the track attendants are allowed to do the former. The idea is to choose the option which gets rid of the danger as quickly as possible. They did the same with Michael Schumacher who was stranded in his Ferrari a few years ago.
Also, did
you forget the Hamilton-Massa-Incident in Spa 2008? They were fighting for position, Massa in front. Hamilton missed a braking point and cut a chicane, let Massa pass again (acording to the rules) and immediately overtook him again. There was no rule which explicitly forbid that. McLaren tried to contact the Stewards to ask whether that maneuver was okay, but they never got an answer. After the race, Hamilton was punished for "not using the track at all times during the race" (which is a rule, but one that's broken constantly by many drivers) and effectively stripped of his win.
I understand that his "spirited" driving style is somewhat troublemaking at times, but to me it looks like since there always is an experienced racing driver with the Stewards, all decisions are met fairly. Same goes for this race.
Alonsos jump start was a tough call, but he did show superhuman reaction and thus was punished with the milder of two options. The problem is that there are no more options for jump starts. The rules clearly say that a jump start has to be punished with a drive-through-penalty or a 10-second-stop-penalty. What Hamilton and Vettel did was reckless and dangerous, but neither explicitly forbidden, nor linked to specific punishments. Therefore, they were let off with a warning.
It's nice to have drivers on the stewards panels!
