equiraptor
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I'm on another forum with a significant percentage of racing drivers. Some of them are amateurs, some are pros, some are racing coaches, some are car developers, parts developers, etc. There's a thread about this F1 race, and like in many other forums, there are mixed opinions about Hamilton's behavior. But one comment I found particularly interesting. This comes from an experienced racing driver.
Without doubt, there is a higher emphasis on safety now than in previous eras. Hamilton is aggressive, and he has the skill to back up that aggression. But there are cases where the aggression is and isn't appropriate. At most F1 tracks, there is run-off room available, sometimes more, sometimes less, but there's often some. In these cases, the "incident" Hamilton's passing behavior causes may mean someone running over some curbing, someone going off track, or maybe wing damage or a punctured tire. Yes, sometimes there's worse, but often, it can be contained to lower levels of damage. At Monaco, with the lack of runoff and the close barriers, these "incidents" have a higher risk of resulting in significant car damage, taking a car out of the race, and there's a higher risk of human injury.
The stewards have shown, by their penalties, that those higher levels of risk are not acceptable to them. Clearly, some fans agree and some disagree. My personal opinion is that Hamilton's attempted pass on Massa in the hairpin was not an acceptable level of risk, given the proximity of the two cars in front (these introduce an added unpredictability and reduce the space Massa has to use to reduce the severity of a potential incident). His pass on Maldanado was very similar to his pass on Schumacher. Hamilton's pass of Schumacher worked, because Schumacher has (and used) the experience, the wisdom, and the skill to balance aggression and incident avoidance. Maldanado didn't, that time (note: I don't mean to be harshly critical of Maldanado - he is less experienced than Schumacher, and this pass occurred later in the race, when the drivers are more drained, making quick decisions more challenging). To me, the attempted pass on Maldanado was not "too much," but it was "extremely aggressive."
Without doubt, there is a higher emphasis on safety now than in previous eras. Hamilton is aggressive, and he has the skill to back up that aggression. But there are cases where the aggression is and isn't appropriate. At most F1 tracks, there is run-off room available, sometimes more, sometimes less, but there's often some. In these cases, the "incident" Hamilton's passing behavior causes may mean someone running over some curbing, someone going off track, or maybe wing damage or a punctured tire. Yes, sometimes there's worse, but often, it can be contained to lower levels of damage. At Monaco, with the lack of runoff and the close barriers, these "incidents" have a higher risk of resulting in significant car damage, taking a car out of the race, and there's a higher risk of human injury.
The stewards have shown, by their penalties, that those higher levels of risk are not acceptable to them. Clearly, some fans agree and some disagree. My personal opinion is that Hamilton's attempted pass on Massa in the hairpin was not an acceptable level of risk, given the proximity of the two cars in front (these introduce an added unpredictability and reduce the space Massa has to use to reduce the severity of a potential incident). His pass on Maldanado was very similar to his pass on Schumacher. Hamilton's pass of Schumacher worked, because Schumacher has (and used) the experience, the wisdom, and the skill to balance aggression and incident avoidance. Maldanado didn't, that time (note: I don't mean to be harshly critical of Maldanado - he is less experienced than Schumacher, and this pass occurred later in the race, when the drivers are more drained, making quick decisions more challenging). To me, the attempted pass on Maldanado was not "too much," but it was "extremely aggressive."
