- 22 Ιούλ 2024, 19:41
#869029
Still controversy in Hungary starring Verstappen. The Dutchman escapes a penalty, Hamilton puts his
The end-of-race crash between Hamilton and Verstappen in the Hungarian 2024 GP reopens controversy. More than in Austria, the Dutchman is in a heat to overtake Hamilton but goes too long. A contact ensues but not without fault for English, as also stated by the Stewards. Let's see what happened and why the Budapest episode is comparable to that of Austria with Norris.
Let's start from the beginning: Verstappen has double trail (also use Albon's) + DRS to get closer to Hamilton. Dubbed Thai, Lewis moves outward.
The horizontal line is that of SC2, positioned about 95 meters from the entrance to the curve. Verstappen's DRS closes earlier, Hamilton is still taking himself out. Other reference: Lando Norris, in qualifying and in a tank drain, started to detach about 110 meters from the corner.
At 75/80 meters from the curve Hamilton begins to move to the right looking in the mirror. Verstappen is still straight but he's looking towards the rope too. The stewards did not define Hamilton's movement as a clear “moving under braking”, but the movement is there.
We still use Norris' Pole lap as a reference to see how Lando remains attached to the curb after the 50-meter sign (and therefore in full braking) while Lewis is tightening inward even before the point where he steers to enter Turn 1. We frame everything in the “defense maneuver”.
Verstappen starts to side by side and is much faster. From the telemetries it turned out that the Dutchman braked at the same point as the previous laps but with a higher speed, so he arrives longer with Hamilton continuing his defense maneuver.
At single-seater side by side the distance between front and rear wheels is still practically identical, with Verstappen actually already correcting slightly to the right to respond to Hamilton's defense.
Verstappen blocks. He will say that the blockage is due to the fact that he had to steer in the brake to avoid Lewis: here we remain with the doubt that it is an excuse, because anyway he came long. In any case, once the front wheels are locked the Red Bull proceeds essentially straight despite the wheels steered to the right.
At this point it happens what the Stewards have called “Hamilton could have done more to avoid contact.” That is, Lewis instead of proceeding straight in turn to stay at a distance, steers slightly to the right well keeping in mind the Red Bull at his side.
This is clear from the three images above, with Lewis' left glove (fluo yellow) becoming progressively visible, as well as the left side of the W15. The Englishman, while the RB20 parades it, still sets the curve and this cannot be done: the International Sports Code clearly indicates that you should not carry out potentially dangerous maneuvers for other drivers. This must apply to Verstappen as well as to everyone else, including Hamilton.
In this case, Hamilton's steering causes his right front wheel to align with the rear right of the Red Bull (even the front wing touches almost the bottom of the RB20), favoring contact and blowing up the single-seater, creating a dangerous situation as it is avoidable.
We return to Austria's speech, when Norris decided not to move on the curb contributing to contact with Verstappen. If Hamilton had not steered, Verstappen would have paraded ahead with a chance to cross. Instead, the Englishman risked ending up as Norris in Spielberg, but was saved by the fact that the contact took place between the tires and not between the two rims.
An example of 'avoiting a contact' that always comes back in vogue is that of Austria 2001 between Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya, curiously always in Turn 3. The Colombian arrives long, parades on locked wheels alongside Ferrari and the German, who was already setting, reverses course and literally steers to the left to avoid contact between his right front wheel and the left rear of the Williams. The two don't touch each other, Montoya ends up in gravel, Schumacher on the grass and the two return to the track without consequences, waste of time aside.
Ultimately, Verstappen's braking misjudgement is undeniable and falls back into a rambling race on his part and Red Bull. Even without contact, the Dutchman would have wasted time exactly as in the first attempt to overtake the English, demonstrating a heat not supported, this time, by the RB20. Net of this and the imperence of the Dutchman, it is worth exactly what was analyzed in Austria.
If the maneuver of the reigning champion is borderline, on the other side we do not have a zero fault. In fact, Hamilton's action was even more avoidable than Norris' “non-” action. The fact that there was no penalty for Verstappen stems solely from the fact that Hamilton suffered no damage. This, however, does not mean that he has no responsibilities.
In this case, the story of 'The other driver also has to make the curve' counts zero. In a fight between two pilots both have a duty to do what they can to avoid contact. And, in the face of Verstappen's borderline conduct (but in Austria we have clearly seen how that maneuver is very normal, as per other fellow drivers), both Norris in Spielberg and Hamilton in Budapest are not exempt from fault.
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