What really happened in the Verstappen Hamilton Saudi F1 collision

[@bradleystarr8856]

I think the FIA needs to get their order of operations straightened out. If they're going to tell the leading driver to give the place back, then they need to tell the following driver first, so everyone's on the same page BEFORE the switchover.

[@f33fifofum]

Don't they tell the teams pretty much one after the other, wasn't the issue that Merc hadn't relayed that information to Lewis?

[@vinnie8792]

@@f33fifofum yeah they keep saying that merc hadnt been told yet, but there was a live reaction from massi on the radio that he had told them but they said they didnt recieve it

[@NoxioLukas]

They told them both early enough. If i recall correctly it was just that the corresponding Mercedes engineer was talking with someones else at the exact moment the call came in. That way he just missed it. Quite unfortunate because this whole dilemma could have been easily prevented with Lewis knowing what was about to happen.

[@Tommy-ns4nz]

Also, I believe they should not be able to try to re-overtake for at least one sector to stop either driver worrying about a DRS advantage. If that was the case, the incident wouldn't have happened and the race could continue safely.

[@oj_furrylover8484]

@@Tommy-ns4nz I heard that Hamilton got a penalty doing that giving back position and get pass right after back in 2008?

[@craigcharlesworth1538]

Max's intention was underhanded - try and hand the place back in such a way that he'd get a free DRS and pass again easily - but since the FIA didn't mandate how or where he should hand the place back I can't blame him. Equally Hamilton initially didn't know what was happening because the FIA didn't tell him, then when he figured out that he was being let by he twigged what Max was up to and didn't want to pass until they'd passed the DRS line. Can't blame him for that. The common factor here is the FIA.

[@ayeeeitskev]

actually regaining that place at the next corner after being ordered to change position is illegal (ironically a precedent set by hamilton) and verstappen should have been informed or known that - at least thats how i feel, although i do agree that the common factor here is the fia and more specifically michael masi

[@ThaApacha]

Exactly, How did redBull and Verstappen know to give a place back so much earlier than Mercedes and Hamilton. Also, if places were reversed Hamilton would most likely also choose the most strategic place to let Verstappen by. Verstappen could have let Hamilton easier by. However, most of my quarrel is with the FIA. How that Verstappen and Hamilton did not know about giving the place back around the same time is beyond me.

[@rikachu571]

Thats how i saw it too and this is backed up by his engineer advising him to give up the place "strategically" aswell as his later actions in falsely handing back the position.

[@petouser]

Why would the FIA tell Verstappen where to switch places? There usually shouldn't be any issue with that. The sporting regulations say that it should take place in a safe manner. There isn't really more necessity of ruling. And braking harshly in the middle of the straight right in front of someone isn't what I would call safe.

[@paulwood6729]

Spa 2008 established that if you give up a position you can't take it back again at the next corner. You could argue that the crash was before the last corner but that's a dubious position to take. Hence Max had to give his place back after re-passing Lewis at the last corner some laps later. All of this points to the need for permanent professional stewards and clearer rules.

[@tesseract_uk]

it feels nice being a ferrari fan watching the rest of the community implode every race

[@JTMclarenF1]

Yeah y'all aren't in the race at all😂

[@timbraska6750]

@@JTMclarenF1 In the race enough to get P3 in constructors which is all a Ferrari Fan wished for this year.

[@luicupcake]

Maybe next year Ferrari can be at the front

[@aaronb4936]

That’s the only reason it’s nice to be a Ferrari fan this season.. I feel the pain

[@darkghost4890]

@@luicupcake not maybe it will happen 100000%

[@andrewbiggins9404]

The upshot surely is that race control needs to tell the teams when and where the place should be given back, not let the teams/drivers decide.

[@tamasnemeth2161]

Or at least mandate a certain period when this position needs to be kept, so one cannot play this kind of games.

[@Neishy4AGTE]

it should just be common sense, but the drivers are just too dirty at the moment to play fair, Lewis and Max both.

[@LoneWolf-wp9dn]

Indeed... the playing with this rule is the worst part of this and will probably lead to more regulation

[@j.thomas7128]

Why bother racing if you are promoting that F1 officials should choose a driver's position and ultimately where that driver finishes? You must've gotten trophies for last place in school.

[@LoneWolf-wp9dn]

@@j.thomas7128 ceding the position is a more fare punishment than a stop and go... its also a nice fair play gentleman-like thing to do... that was before this mess

[@ketiux]

What happened to the rule where after you let someone pass (because you gained an advantage by going off track or by cutting a chicane) and you have to wait 2 corners before attempting to pass again? This means that Max would have had to wait until after the main straight to attempt and pass Lewis. Remember Spa 2008 between Kimi and Lewis? That's where the rule originated.

[@michaelrobinson8957]

I’m good I’m not the only one that remembers this rule.

[@taubhickmitra]

@@michaelrobinson8957 Been looking for this comment from the day of the race

[@The_North_Star]

That's why max got the 5sec penalty

[@hank41652]

Really good point. Perhaps it was dropped when DRS was added in 2011.

[@oldschool8330]

I’ve never heard of this rule, but I think it makes sense to implement something like this.

[@TommoMcCluskey]

The video F1 Twitter needs to see.

[@TestarossaF110]

yeah... Mercedes/FIA stewarding is to blame imo.

[@karthikpenumetch9300]

Ommo has checked in

[@jtwilliams721]

@@TestarossaF110 wow…that’s what you got from that video.

[@glockmat]

Try F1 Reddit

[@ananthu8534]

@@jtwilliams721 FIA tried to contact them . but weren't able to reach them Coz of traffic at the Mercedes' end . Is there a possibility that Mercedes did it "strategically" to not let Verstappen get DRS after letting Hamilton pass ?? , The opposite of what RedBull and Verstappen thought ??

[@shello912]

What's really to blame here is that the rules allow and hence incentive these silly games. Make a rule that disables DRS in these situations or forces the overtake to take place in the next DRS zone, simple as that. And inform the overtaking driver that he's given the position back!

[@mattbilello6229]

There is a rule a,ready so many seem not know - when ordered to give up a position you cannot retake it in the very next corner - hence Max would not be allowed to retake immediately - when that happened later in the race after the collision Max again had to give up the position to Lewis which is when Max’s engineer told him you didn’t need to give it up again because the stewards had already given him a 5 second penalty for not properly giving up the position. It’s amazing everyone commenting do not understand why the first 5 second penalty was assessed against Max - because he never properly gave up the position when he immediately passed Hamilton in the very next corner.

[@mikelitoris6315]

@@mattbilello6229 (honest question) Where is that rule? I am pretty sure is it just an unwritten rule of the sport, unless its in the regs somewhere and I missed it. I've gone through the Regulations and could not find the specific area where it states giving back the advantage and staying behind for x amount of time/corners. 27.3 of the sporting regs only states he has to give the "whole of any advantage" and thats all.

[@megawave79]

Oh cool. What rule?

[@richdean4909]

@@mikelitoris6315 this rule came when Lewis slowed let Kimi past and retook the position at the next corner in Spa years ago

[@zedrhyx1788]

@@mikelitoris6315 the rule was implemented when Hamilton was caught doing it in 2008

[@silvenshadow]

I'd guess that nobody wanted to pass before the detection zone, Max slowed to a crawl and Hamilton wouldn't take the bait. Max got frustrated and decided to basically stop on track and Hamilton was a little too close.

[@AnythingVW]

Exactly 👍🏼

[@nemesiszar757]

Easily said👍🏿

[@MsArjun1111]

Yep, that's the gift of experience man. I hope Max can calm down further.

[@nikosf3n]

Max thought, ok as#@!e say goodbye to your front wing. Max at that point is 8 points ahead, so he wins the championship even if he finish second on the final race. A dnf for both was a perfect scenario for him. But it didn't work like that at all.

[@lijoy_mathew]

@@nikosf3n omfg thats so not what happened..

[@frankrizan3357]

The main cause of all this is the FIA not telling both teams at the exact same time. That's not to say Verstappen wouldn't try to be strategic, but Hamilton would know what's going on and it would be much less likely for a collision to happen.

[@GloomGaiGar]

I don't think that's even possible. What they can do is inform them quickly and in the right order.

[@blazedyoda8608]

I agree, I don't put all the blame verstappen because lewis didn't want to lead into the drs zone either and there was clearly space for him to pass vertsappen at points. If the FIA/stewards told red bull at the exact same time they told Mercedes about the position swap then this whole thing probably would've been avoided because lewis would know what max is doing and probably wouldn't get as close/ be as cautious as he was.

[@blazedyoda8608]

@@GloomGaiGar it's not hard to tell them both at the same time.

[@harrison7494]

Who are you? You work for Mercedes? If a car slows you pass them case closed you don’t have to know why they are slowing they both were playing games with the DRS detection zone case closed. Enough whining from Mercedes and captain whiner sir lewis. Did you ever hear Michael Schumacher whine? Or complain? Or leak data on twitter with McLaren at spa? Or blame his team? Or mid race complain his team screwed him? No no no no no Michael was team 1st always mature driver.

[@Camdennnn]

@@harrison7494 I'm a verstappen fan and I 100% agree with the original comment

[@MitchWebb94]

All I can say from this season is, I miss Charlie Whiting - Michael Masi does not command the respect from the teams or drivers like Charlie did, and the pressure is getting to him in a season where we needed Charlie's experience more than ever. RIP

[@DaviMourao]

Yeah, I feel like Ross Brawn would be a perfect replacement, but he's already with Liberty/F1 side of things.

[@eQ-13]

I think Masi is doing the best he can. I'm sure Charlie also made a few mistakes on his way to being very good. He's obviously better than last year and next year, he'll be even better

[@user-sj8oy8oi4r]

When he retires Seb would be the best replacement

[@tarasala]

said the redbull fan...

[@eQ-13]

@@tarasala I'm actually a Lewis fan. But I'm objective enough to see Masi means no malice

[@zatosan729]

Knowing the Stewards didn't issue Max a penalty in Brazil for running wide with Lewis impacted the driver's mindset. F1 has been inconsistent on these driving over the white line.

[@jeremiahbachmann3901]

Considering that forcing drivers wide is one of HAM's signature moves that never get penalized.........

[@vebastiansettel1173]

Yeah I hope this season is the last. They hit reset on season break and start enforcing the consistent rule in the race.

[@theraomaN]

@@jeremiahbachmann3901 ????. Lewis got a 10 sec penalty at Silverstone, 5 seconds at Brazil and 5 seconds at Austria.

[@ananthu8534]

that they hadn't penalised Max in Brazil and they got him penalised responsible for the Collision in Saudi for their miscommunication is really Weird !!!!

[@justinburley8659]

@@theraomaN what year are you talking about? Lewis didn’t get any time penalties in Austria or Brazil

[@hunterquinlan5459]

Something I noticed but have yet to hear an explanation on was Verstappen’s steering. He wasn’t going straight, he was weaving a little bit which I’m sure is another reason Hamilton was hesitant to pass him. You can see it from Hamilton’s view as well as Verstappen’s driver cam

[@mclarensaleenf7]

Right he was weaving pretty quickly as Ham got really close. I'd be afraid to pass the crazy guy too, since Ham literally had to finish this race to keep his title fight alive. Max should really be disqualified for that crap. Weaving and then sudden hard braking with someone right behind? That's nuts

[@tonysunny8927]

And he claims he was on the right side of the track in post race 🙄 absolute joke verstappen is. The telemetry data of braking input itself is more than enough to disqualify Crashtappen what he did is obvious. FIA have been really kind to Verstappen and red bull this season and for hamilton basically its drive to survival because Verstappen is trying everything to make sure Hamilton doesn't win the title and it's absolutely disgraceful.

[@vipulgadekar3074]

Baku 2018 Memory Flash!

[@terryurquhart8724]

Absolutely spot on statement … Verstappens movement was and as is usual is questionable but Stewards rarely call it as that …

[@lightninlarry8936]

I think Max was trying to move over to let Hamilton pass. Hamilton came up to the back of him and didn’t pass. So max decided to go left trying to signal to Hamilton that he should be passing him. Idk that’s what I think. I genuinely don’t believe Max was trying to cause a collision here.

[@Shanghaimartin]

Both of them were playing silly buggers. Hamilton should have passed the slower car, but I get why he didn't want to. Verstappen should have made the move easier for Hamilton, but I get why he didn't want to. A perfect storm of nonsense and unpredictability at 100kph.

[@mrjace3]

If He knew he would have.

[@woutoboy9039]

@@mrjace3 If a car in front of you suddenly lost power and started to slow down would you not overtake? i mean they didn't tell you to right? that makes no sense

[@CHLBUTTERWORTH]

The solution to this is to take the gamesmanship and ambiguity around it. Make the place change happen on the pit straight and the car that is slowing down must pull off the racing line and be behind the other car going into the next lap/before the next corner.

[@MrDavekek]

@@mrjace3 Shut up, Lewis knew exactly what was going on. When has it become a normal thing to slow down your car whenever a car infront of you slows down?

[@pineapple0427]

​@@woutoboy9039 From my eye, i think max could've gone to the side of the track more and slowdown consistently instead of moving closer to the center of the track and both decelerate and accelerate.

[@ate8eight_162]

Toto needs to find the person who made that front wing to bulid the entire car because Max aint gonna hold back in the final race.

[@bukwok]

i think FIA deserve 10 second penalty on this one.

[@zahaan4040]

Fia deserves 10 points of there license to exercise control

[@willielouw5154]

Haha.. more like a one race ban.. final race without stuards.. total caos.. one we would never forget..

[@Roy-jy6vp]

2 things stand out...to me. First, Verstappen brakes and Hamilton reacts with acceleration. That is just weird and contradictory. Second, Hamilton must be the first ever and only F1 driver that is confused because of a slower car. It's in the DNA of a racing driver to instantly overtake slower competition. Very, very unusual.

[@RoxUnlimited]

I think even normal people know to overtake slower traffic idk wtf Hamilton was thinking

[@adamjozsef4427]

@@RoxUnlimited Could simply think there was VSC for example 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@RoxUnlimited]

@@adamjozsef4427 it appears on their dashboard if they are under VSC or SC as well as yellow flags

[@ObatolceTV]

Did you watch the Video? Neither driver wanted to give the other DRS.

[@hub-p4g]

Looked like Max was hoping to crash him out to me..drifting across on a narrow section, Lulu is right to not trust him.

[@tonTeufel]

The whole fight over who's behind at the DRS detection point is ridiculous and shows again the issue of inconsistent stewarding. Letting someone by right before the detection point and then immidiately retaking that position with DRS is not giving back the place that you illegally earned. It's farcical and would definitely be punished if we had reliable stewards. If drivers can rely on such a manoeuvre to not be accepted as "giving back the position", Hamilton would've overtaken Verstappen there. But stewarding is so unreliable in F1, especially after they allowed Verstappen to use more than double the track with in Brazil.

[@demon1spence]

It is farcical indeed. but if he hadn't overtaken off track he still would have been well within DRS range so its hard to say the outcome would have been any different.

[@adrielamadeus3900]

On this particular instant, I actually agree with Max giving the positing before the start/finish straight to get DRS. Max 'gained an advantage by going off track' when he and Hamilton were both wheel-to-wheel coming into turn 1. Of course Max gained the advantage illegally hence he needed to give up his position (not give BACK his postion imo) but I do feel he has an entitlement to fight for his position back.

[@JPRDYER]

it’s also interesting that Hamilton was given a drive-through penalty at Spa in 2008 for doing exactly that, where as Verstappen tried it here, and then successfully did it later on with no immediate ramification, they need a blanket “you can’t do that” just to squash any inconsistency

[@doctorsatansrobot]

It shows why DRS is farcical. Either everyone should have it all the time, or it should be activated based on proximity at the point you use it, not an arbitrary point on the track that can be aimed for strategically.

[@henriwolbrink]

Simply define clear overtaking zones and block DRS.

[@Sjoppe]

There should be a certain point on every circuit where you give the position back. Like always in Turn 1 or always after a DRS zone so you can't benefit afterwards

[@adriangaleron3293]

Long lap penalty like in motogp. Its given for exceding track limits, but could be used for this purpose too.

[@barrymckockiner8737]

that'll only work if there are just 2 drivers on the track

[@adriangaleron3293]

@@barrymckockiner8737 it is a penalty, if more than one driver overtake you, simply keep your car inside the track, or give the position back inmediately.

[@SueMyChin]

The driver should be in his original position at the point that the place was illegally taken. Turn 1 in this case, but you could only do that relevant to the other driver involved. When Lewis lost a place to Ocon because Max rejoined the track in front of him, it complicates things. In this scenario, forget telling the driver to give the place back and issue a time penalty regardless, they have to be dissuaded from making illegal moves. Going back to as you were is not a punishment for risking a collision by forcing someone off the track the way Max did.

[@davideloi9176]

That's a very smart solution! simple and effective

[@get2dachoppa249]

I’m hoping against hope that Abu Dhabi goes down as a clean race, without a questionable finish.

[@gdog6226]

Not a chance of that happening while mad max is on track... Mark my words he will take Lewis out the first chance he gets and the race channel will run cover for him!

[@stewartmcphail6856]

@@gdog6226I think tbe same thing max is going to take them both out and win it all. All the crazy max fans will celebrate knowing he only won because he followed the safety car for 3 laps and got a race win for it👏

[@ronwilken5219]

@@Wolfywolf7 I think Jos should be banned from the pits altogether. He's obviously a bad influence along with the Dr. Communications between the team principals and race director/stewards should also be disallowed during the race. Instructions from race director would be necessary.

[@ColinJ88]

It seems sadly obvious now, that Verstappen will do anything to win this championship, no matter how low and dirty it may be.

[@luckyreda]

Hamilton is the most dirty cry baby. Max is making F1 fun to watch again

[@smokenls4205]

Changing the rules for passing could help with this in the future. If a driver is ordered to give back a spot it should have to be done outside of a DRS zone.

[@yautjayarrington1732]

Easy fix have a designated re-adressing zone. On every track you can only give back spots at a pre- determined place designated by the FIA or whomever decides such things.

[@shelleyking8450]

Max didn't want to do that, he wanted to repass in DRS, which he tried to do the next time he let Lewis by.

[@matthiasbroek8055]

@@IsSalty Mercedes was given this pass by the FIA. Max had the corner earlier and Lewis almost drove into him, you can’t dot that. If anything Lewis should have been given a penalty instead of this freebie pass.

[@matthiasbroek8055]

@@IsSalty It seems that way. And I wouldn't have an issue if it was consistent, however more then often if Lewis does a similar action its ok, then Max drove into Lewis, but the other way around Max pushed Lewis off.. Anyway lets hope for a clean race on Sunday.

[@akosrex]

Why isn't there a designated part of the track to do this? Like u have to give the position back between turn X and Y within 2 laps or u get a 5 sec penalty. It would be so simple.

[@neilgift11]

Yes, much like the long lap penalty in MotoGP.

[@nunocarmona]

Or an obligation of staying behind until AFTER the next corner, for example.

[@Optimus-Prime-Rib]

Hopefully thats the case going forward

[@tonespeaks]

@@nunocarmona There is an obligation, hence why Max got a 5 sec penalty.

[@Kyuubi840]

@@tonespeaks Is there such an explicit obligation though? AFAIK the only obligation is "give the place back", no word on having to stay back until the next corner. Although drivers have been punished for giving the place back but then retaking it "strategically", like Lewis did on Raikkonen in 2007 (or 2008?). Does the rule say "until after the next corner" now?

[@MrTheAntisocial]

Whatever happened, it's clear that the FIA should review and amend the rules to remove the opportunity for gamesmanship and potential for confusion. All it needs is for the place and time to be designated by the stewards/director rather than the team being punished choosing so they can do it tactically, and to make sure the info if passed on properly and timely: "driver XX must let driver XX pass at XX on lap XX".

[@benanderson9551]

I think it was the wrong choice of words. He was essentially saying either swap the cars or I refer to stewards which will most likely bring a harsher punishment. I agree though that he was too soft with RB. He’s in charge and should show it

[@pw6048]

And for those cars DRS will be disabled for that lap.

[@arfived4]

Giving a place back is an act of sportsmanship, not something governed by rules per se - if you gain an advantage by passing offtrack, and 'voluntarily' hand the place back, it's 'no harm, on foul', and race control don't report you to the stewards. It's pretty straightforward - give the place back properly, or get a penalty

[@ricardonurse1241]

@@benanderson9551 the reason why he's soft with RB is, he's their lobbyists so that every time RB or Max breaches he's there to soften the impact of the punishment or in the Brazil case nullify any action being taken.

[@youngman44]

Just use the rule you can’t attempt to re-take until 2 corners after giving it up. It was clearly a lack of sportsmanship.

[@penusliski]

I believe when Max realized Lewis had no intention to pass him before DRS detection point, he tried to force him by hitting the brakes and give him no choice but to overtake him. There was no intention to cause the crash tho, just a split second decision, counting on Lewis' space awareness

[@TNTmatteos]

I agree with you, this is what I think too. Still very irresponsible and worthy on a penalty on Max, maybe even a larger one than 10 seconds...

[@keepthemhonest2]

This is exactly the point. It should have been obvious to Lewis that Max would continue to slow down so he would overtake before the DRS line. Lewis had very few options here 1) Slow down and stay behind Max in which case I think Max should have just speed up and said "I tried to let him past but he wouldn't" 2) Overtaken Max and used the faster car that Lewis had to pull a gap

[@nwigchert10]

@@TNTmatteos lmao but Lewis putting max into a wall is LESS of a penalty? Wtf!

[@Lee883]

Even if he did that it's also illegal to do that, Hamilton had a win stripped from him in spa a few years back for giving a place back before the drs line.

[@roughead6469]

Next race, both of them would be stopped just in front of DRS line

[@tony5006]

Clarification about handing a place back needs to happen before next season for sure. Fear of the other having DRS straight after giving the place back was what caused this collision. The driver giving the place back should have his DRS disabled for 1 lap to stop this happening, or, scrap the hateful DRS altogether.

[@patrikcvik3843]

best suggestion I ve read so far

[@Rikcey]

They will, next year's cars won't have it, as they try to solve the problem DRS was meant to solve, dirty air.

[@ballaking1000]

No DRS means well over half the overtakes wouldn’t be possible.. People complaining about DRS’ existence is basically the same as whining about the powerful slipstream effect before these current cars on those same parts of the track where DRS is considered too powerful.. These cars are bigger and faster, DRS is 100% required; get over this already people, it’s been 11 years.. Unless you want to go back to the “golden years” of F1 where overtakes averaged well below 20 per race. Also, a better way to implement the rule would be that the driver in front simply must let the driver behind through in DRS zones only. He must be the first to cross the detection point and then give up the position somewhere along the straight before the braking zone. No overtaking allowed after the first corner until the second corner to make sure it was a true pass. That eliminates any cheeky business of not actually giving the position. The driver in front must also go off the racing line to ensure there’s no confusion on what side both drivers should be on.. If driver fails to give up position or overtakes after the first corner will get a +5s time penalty (and give the position back again, repeating the process?).. This makes it absolutely clear to all parties what’s going on and it never changes. Both driver’s get notified at the same, every time, and it’s always the upcoming DRS zone, no giving up position elsewhere. No need for disabling anything and is extremely easy to police as it’s crystal clear.

[@tony5006]

@@ballaking1000 Total crap. We would be better going back to full ground effect cars rather than putting up with this “false” overtaking on a track where it can controlled by the FIA. I truly hope that 2022 brings REAL overtaking by real drivers.

[@ballaking1000]

@@tony5006 You're acting as if DRS is literally a "push to pass" button. There's very few straights in the F1 calendar where DRS is actually like that and as I said earlier, it was NO different before DRS when the cars were smaller and made much less dirty air behind it- especially in the eras of refueling. The reduced weight of the cars back then also aided in climbing speed before going out of slipstream (as well as longer times being spent on those straights) which isn't as pronounced in the current gen. These cars have insane cornering speeds which makes acceleration slower out of corners meaning less differentiating speeds between two drivers, nullifying DRS a lot. The vast majority of the time for DRS to work, the driver behind has to have a perfect run out the last corner and often times needs to be within .5-.7 seconds for the overtake to work which is incredibly difficult to get to that point before the DRS zone. Then to top it off, the driver in front obviously chooses what side to be on and more than likely gets to 'cut off' the driver behind from making the pass. If not that then it's very likely to be who brakes the latest. The only super easy DRS overtakes are from drivers ahead having old tires or backmarkers getting out of the way lol! Also, drivers often can't stick behind other drivers for too long before overheating which gives them a smaller window to get the move right early. Take the Hungarian GP for example, Hamilton took 11 laps to get around Alonso in the far inferior Alpine and literally had to wait for Alonso to make a mistake to get a move to stick. If that's too small a track for an example (even though the performance gap between Mercedes/Alpine must bear some weight and that Hamilton had WAY fresher tires), what about the season opener when Verstappen struggled for a third of the Bahrain GP trying to overtake Hamilton and literally just had that one chance to get the move done before the tires were cooked. One last thing to consider is that drivers/teams often think it's not worth it to try and get DRS- if it was as simple as you make it sound, they would ALWAYS go for it but they don't, they often times think it's better to wait for a better opportunity later on in the race. That may make for not-as-good racing but it does disprove that DRS is this all-powerful "push to pass" button that does everything for you. Drivers before DRS were also in the same dilemma of trying to overtake or hold back, literally nothing has really actually changed.. The overtakes are just as real as the drivers are lol... Yeah, 2022 will definitely bring the racing closer and the DRS won't be as powerful nor as much a necessity as the cars won't have huge vacuums behind them slowing themselves down and needing the DRS as much.

[@zaidmurrieta5770]

I think the main thing regardless of who you support/think is in the right or wrong is that if you are giving a place back you should do so off of the racing line. I feel like this would make everything super simple and cut out any of these incidents happening in the future

[@cheesyriceo4]

Tbh out of all the possibly complicated suggestions I’ve seen, this is the simplest fix. Going off line is a clear sign you’re yielding, and dirtying up their tires may help deny a pass for a few corners

[@iandez8455]

If anyone overtakes either under a blue flag or for any other reason there is no requirement for the car in front to move off the racing line and it should not be required for any reason.

[@DriverDad58]

Think you may be ignoring the ultra competitive nature of F1 :) Lewis didn't want to pass. Max slowed earlier by a LOT, and there was plenty of room to pass the entire time. Max could have stopped and Lewis apparently would have stopped as well. The first instinct of every racer I've ever known, when a car slows in front, is to PASS. Not tuck in behind. What if there was a problem with the car in front? The LAST thing you do is get behind them as Lewis did. So I'm not at all buying Lewis was "confused". He's probably the smartest driver on the track, which his supporters never stop talking about, and yet now they seem to think he doesn't have sufficient experience and smarts to understand what was happening. Face it; they were both messing with each other. Lewis is good at doing this and then deflecting blame (as I said, very smart driver). Max...not so much :)

[@jrodrc4137]

@@DriverDad58 100%. To me this was both their fault for messing around. Can't believe it got the same penalty as hammy at Silverstone tho.

[@cheesyriceo4]

For a blue flag, I agree they shouldn’t have to move off line to let them pass. But giving a place back to avoid harsher penalty? Yea they should have to move off line. Most of the time they have to give the place back because of a mistake they made anyways. Only time Id say it’s wrong is say when you get pushed off course and have to cut the chicane, passing another car in the process Edit: but by then their tires are already dirty af anyways so I guess it’s whatever lol

[@majsterV]

I blame rules. When switching places by order, there should be no drs, no any kind of manipulation of any situation. Switching should be happened in area ment for that and obeyed immediately after stewards decision without any strategical manipulation of decision to gain advantage for overtaking back . End of discussion!

[@diegovillavicencio3172]

There is already a rule that prevents people on overtaking right after giving the position. Max was trying to break that rule before the collision. Later when he finally left Hamilton pass, he indeed broke the rule, which is why he was instructed to let Hamilton pass for the third time

[@exelium1]

DRS shouldn't ever be a factor that can be used as a "vulnerability". If both drivers admitted to DRS being a factor this should be judged a racing incident and DRS rules revised so that DRS can be switched off in such situation. Also Max should have been instantly overtaken which would prevent the situation entirely.

[@wp12mv]

Max got into Lewis' head

[@cbreazienutz]

@@wp12mv you’re high, max cracked under pressure multiple times last weekend

[@kylejoly577]

Yes, HAM should see a slower car ahead and breeze past him on the left. Instead drives right up behind VER, then into him.

[@bman977]

@@kylejoly577 @W P keep making excuses for his dangerous behavior it all good and well until someone ends up at the morgue

[@benfulford3943]

There is no need to introduce rules around the DRS. Rules already exist, they were introduced after Hamilton did that exact trick and let raikonnen by then breeze past him with DRS in spa a number of years ago. What max was attempting to do was illegal and 8s why he got a 5 sec penalty when he did do it a few laps latter. Not that max really cares about the rules

[@Niinsa62]

This actually makes sense of what happened. Max being ordered to let Lewis pass, but in a strategic manner so that they got DRS advantage afterwards, to retake the lead. And Lewis not wanting to pass too early, because he too wanted DRS advantage.

[@georgiekimson8068]

Noooooo Mad Max only wanted to retire both cars so he can get an easier job in the Yas Marina circuit.

[@luckyluc25]

@@georgiekimson8068 Really? Then why didn't that happen then? So how many times has Hamilton sped past a slower car on their left side. 1000 times? More most likely. He knew what was going on. He knew Max left the track and the stewards would make him give the place back eventually. That's normal. They all get 3 warning for yellow flags. On the steering wheel, by the flashing yellow light on the side of the track, and stewards waving flag. There were none. He knew exactly what was going on. All I saw was Max trying to let him by and Hamilton was being Hamilton, which caused all the confusion. Max did have the choice the left him by where ever he wanted too. Hamilton did the same thing to Raikkonen in 2008 by dropping back and passing immediately. So he knew what was going on. He's just selfish. He did it 13 years ago ad can't let it be done to him?

[@angelm8530]

@@georgiekimson8068 if that was the case he had several corners that they were next to each other he could’ve done that. Especially when Ham was next to Ocon

[@Bahamuttiamat]

@@luckyluc25 Everything you've written would've made sense against a normal respectful driver. Not one that's been trying his best to run you off the road the entire race. It makes perfect sense for lewis to have a large degree of caution against max. Furthermore, the stewards are reluctant to penalise max as shown in brazil. So betting on them to do the right thing is naïve at best. Even when he did give the place, he immediately retook it on corner exit. I mean honestly, did you watch the same race?

[@fcl2024]

@@Bahamuttiamat So what your saving is that the stewards should be prejudiced.

[@zeeblats]

The way to stop this happening in the future is to disable DRS on the cars involved, or simply not having it at all.

[@angustam7509]

Or not have drivers gain an advantage outside track limits

[@johnmarshall6684]

Until we can effectively get rid of DRS a better solution for mandated track position swaps should include where the swap will take place. In this case at the end of the last DRS zone seems like a fair option to reduce an advantage or disadvantage of the swap itself. Leaving it up to the drivers and teams isn't working especially with the convoluted and stumbling efforts of the race director. Hopefully they can at least improve communications for the final race.

[@Tan99bani]

Tbh easy solution would be give the position back from the exactly place where the issue occurred.. If its in drs zone then be it in drs zone and usual drs rules apply... And incase if its in last lap just give time penalty simple... No shenanigans..

[@Lee883]

The rule used to be that I you didn't give the place back within 3 corners it was considered a lasting advantage. Problem is the FIA are tearing up the rule book every race and making excuses for dangerous driving from verstappen. It's clear the FIA are playing with safety to increase viewer numbers. More controversy means more viewers and red bull breaking mercedes dominant streak means more viewers. I feel the FIA are putting money over safety.

[@robertlarder1907]

Just a thought, Motogp rules include the option of the stewards giving a long lap penalty, wonder if that would work?

[@Chest0606]

@@Lee883 Indeed, it's complete nonsense that someone who already got an unfair advantage is deciding when and where to give it back while considering how to gain unfair advantage once again.

[@RD-wg9em]

@@Chest0606 w/ drs a solution would be to just say the driver in front can’t use it on a lap where they give a place back or they get 5 seconds anyway.

[@OzzyCPT]

What about the FIA not clearly communicating to Mercedes and Red Bull at the same time? Surely they have a hand in causing the Hamilton's confusion and the accident. I think that's a big part of why Verstappen got the inconsequential penalty and not something more serious

[@sielo6279]

Masi said on tv that he gave the call to Red Bull and Mercedes at the same time. Just Mercedes failed to give it through to Lewis. But Masi could also be talking shit so.

[@irishRocker1]

@@sielo6279 He isnt. merc engineer said he was talking to someone else at the time. they essentially either missed it, or didnt relay it to lewis in time.

[@michaelsalter2473]

They are fighting for a world title and after 45 years watching F1 none of this is a surprise. This is a great analysis and insight, I think you show clearly from the data neither was malicious as such, they were just trying for that extra 0.01% advantage that makes the difference. End result was that they collided and it was, on balance, caused by Max being inconsistent in the way he did things so was to blame but it wasn’t the heinous crime some might believe. The 10 secs seems to reasonably reflect that.

[@JBVXR]

A nice balanced summary, agreed.

[@Neishy4AGTE]

I'm a red bull fan and even I think it was malicious the way Max braked seeing Hamilton in his mirror, you just can't really explain that away. He could have easily moved to the right and braked hard, either he was trying to take Hamilton's wing off under the guise of an accident, or he just stuffed up in the heat of the moment. His diving into turn 1 was bad enough before this incident, I've been backing him all year but this just isn't racing.

[@douglascatty9976]

@@Neishy4AGTE Yes! Max has no judgment as to where sportsmanship ends.

[@michaelsalter2473]

@@Neishy4AGTE y I do feel Max went in to the race thinking he doesn't need to finish so long as Hamilton doesn't so drove at him through the corners where Hamilton got through. He is probably wrestling inside with the dilemma of the Schumacher championship where he took Hill out when his car was crippled. He desperately wants to win but if it was as a result of such an action it would be forever tainted, and in the unlikely event that its his only WC he might not want it remembered as such. I come at it as someone who isnt particularly a fan of drivers, I'm more a fan of the engineers and the amazing solutions they arrive at though I accept Im a bit unusual in that respect. Been a great season though!

[@coleslawg3779]

@@douglascatty9976 delusional

[@jasperpol6795]

Good objective break down. For me Max his tactical way of giving the place back is on the same level as Bottas slowing Max down before the double Mercedes pitstop and Lewis keeping more than 5 cards difference for Max his tyres to cool off. they played with Max twice and got away with it. Of course Max did not want Lewis to hit him but he was willing to take a bit of a risk. The stakes are high and both drivers/teams are not giving an inch. Think that givin the context the penalty was not necessary. FIA could have taken the blame for not informing Mercedes in time that Max was intructed to give the place back. It would change nothing in the championship but it would have calmed things down just a little bit between the 2 teams.

[@metalyelpantera]

Exactly this. Nobody talks about Bottas slowing down under safety car before boxing or Ham making everything possible to cool down Max tires before the first restart. And no penalty was given to Merc. Same with Ham pushing Max out of track, only a “please don’t do that again” Max has bad reputation and everyone chooses to bash only him because it’s easier and cheap

[@patrickwhite4449]

Umm Bottas slowing down did nothing to max though. It only helped Mercedes and ultimately hurt them because of the red flag. Those are not comparable.

[@WDLC1911]

Max is a dirty clown as is his management. Period. FIA would like to have someone other than Hamilton and MB win (and I get that) but they put their money behind a couple of sociopaths.

[@robertjamesbaker8573]

Mad max knows what was doing he understood that if Hamilton got a dnf he become champion so max being max will try n do anything to get that first championship nowt more to say about it even marko now know max brake tested Hamilton and has said a half arsed sorry

[@dovercomer.2748]

@@metalyelpantera lol people talk about bottas slow down.

[@jamestravis21]

Usually drivers are surprised when they are rear ended, not Max though.

[@Loidy14]

Horner NOT saying that Hamilton drives dangerously into Max speaks volumes

[@andrewhrichardson]

Obviously. If you slam on the brakes when you can see the other car line astern then you wouldn’t be surprised.

[@Val12354]

Max salty fan can say whatever he wants...

[@Batters56]

The most incredible thing is how they were both able to continue at pretty much their full racing speeds afterwards. If that was the two Ferraris colliding it would have probably ended with the second car upside down and the front car with no rear wing and suspension damage!

[@daryl2617]

Actually no. Verstappen suffered from broken diffuser and scratches on rears which is why RBR instructed him to take it easy and he lost pace rapidly

[@nikolaybonapartov7379]

Ferraris are prety tough this year, to be honest. Just check how Leclerc collided with Perez and continued his race without any visible issues.

[@weevilsnitz]

I can't answer why Max was swerving but I imagine the Big Brake was him getting frustrated and working through "I slowed down so much, and you just slowed down behind me, just pass me already!"

[@ricardothorburn4089]

The FIA have to take some blame for this fiasco. They are inconsistent in enforcing rules and the should inform the driver behind that a place is to be handed back before the driver in front. Maybe also a rule that the drivers need to pass through 2 DRS points before overtaking is allowed

[@ShantanuSuchil]

2 DRS points is fine on a track with 3 DRS points, but some tracks only have 1 DRS point. Meaning 2 full laps before an overtake is considered legal.

[@cheesyriceo4]

I think even without DRS max still had a great chance to pass before T2

[@ricardothorburn4089]

@@ShantanuSuchil fair point. Maybe the rule should determine that overtaking is not allowed until after the next DRS zone has been completed. 🤔

[@blademan7671]

This is the best F1 data analysis ever! I’m so happy you guys did this, and zoomed in on just that one event.

[@messorix2033]

Quick summary: FIA's total lack of consistency in enforcing its on rulings as well as its communications towards the teams meant they influenced the championship since race 1. Teams have kept trying to deal with it in their own way, resulting in increasingly weirder and weirder situations. Expect some crazy shit to happen in Abu Dhabi

[@baclava69]

This is true, no matter what, they favour ham, it's a shame, it shows the amazing uphill journey anyone has against this huge bias.

[@migss9581]

@@baclava69 not true at all. verstappen was playing games with the drs line. hamilton could have avoided but he perhaps knew verstappen wanted drs. i find it dumb because he had to give it back anyway. if verstappen gave back the place at a fair place it wouldnt have been any issue imo. verstappen should be applauded for the start on the mediums, but his driving through turn 1 to keep his place no matter what and his strange petulant way of giving the place back means he pushed it too far this time. the brakes being applied erratically is also an issue and not something you see happen for a reason..

[@LongStep]

FIA's inconsistent application of rules is the complete cause of teams trying to 'guess' how anything will be looked at from race to race. It is fairly easy to go through the races and find time after time where rule infractions had no consequence.

[@ljm8812]

Wow you were right! Haha

[@thrasherx9319]

A remarkable prediction. Congratulations.

[@rf7012]

Well I’ll be sure to send anyone ever asking for an explanation for anything to you guys. You’re able to seem like you’re explaining something whilst actually explaining nothing at all. Great job!

[@zwwwz12]

Is breaking forbidden if you have to give back a position? If not, then Max did nothing wrong there.

[@damot1051]

I don't think Max needed to brake at all. Foot off gas and downshift would've slowed him enough for Hamilton to pass. But by then he would probably be at the DRS line and thats what he was avoiding. What this video didn't cover is that fact that upon impact, Max immediately floored it which suggests to me he was hoping Hamilton would run into the back of him and damage his front wing.

[@PaulKentSkates]

There is about breaking at inappropriate times, yes.

[@deanm4290]

One thing I haven't seen people mentioning is that in the build up to this incident there had been Virtual Safety Cars for what seemed almost every other lap! I'd imagine the repetitive slowing down behind your title rival when you really wanted to pass him had a part to play in Lewis' confusion as to why Max was slowing and following suit, considering he hadn't received the message yet over radio. I know you get signals & flags etc for that but as shown in the FP3 incident... they don't always work. Just my two cents on the saga. Looking forward to a cracking weekend of racing ahead!!

[@Maarten_vd]

I agree, could have been the reason for H's hesitations. But fail to see why that is the reason for Max getting the penalty.

[@uditlenka5652]

That's my point as well, even it was a driver's fault (Max's more than Lewis) it happened in the first place because fia told max to give position before Hamilton while there were vsc every second laps which made Lewis almost made clueless for a moment.

[@alexandrucondac9778]

don't they have in they steering lights for vsc or other flags?

[@CORTEZZZZZ87]

@@alexandrucondac9778Yup they do!! So that argument makes no sense. The simple fact is mercedes fucked up and didn´t infom hamilton that verstapen was giving it's place. And for people talking all that shit about max they clearly forgot or simply is not convenient to remember that hamilton was just like that when he was mas age. And no i'm not a fan of either of them.

[@uditlenka5652]

@@alexandrucondac9778 they have but it's not that fast and and there have been times it malfunctions max in Qatar qualifying and Hamilton in jeddah free practice

[@socas_nic]

"Had Verstappen moved over to the side in one continuous movement rather than slowing down in the middle of the track." This sums everything up

[@endthisnonsense7202]

That's exactly what Max did at the first attempt. I didn't work as Lewis refused to take position back.

[@rkan2]

He was plenty off to the right when he first slowed down.. It would've been easy pass for Hamilton, but they both didn't want to get passed by DRS obviously lol. The penalty from FIA is weird because there is no regulation on letting people pass again...

[@roelsiebrand7181]

Would you, when fighting for the championship?

[@socas_nic]

@@rkan2 It wasn't clear. He should of stayed to one side in one continuous movement. End of story. You know how wreckless Max is. Penalty points well deserved. Might be a hursh penalty but it didn't cost him anything. I thought he learned from his crash with Riccardo in 2018 but oh well...

[@Sur5mePC]

@@socas_nic like Lewis normally needs approval for overtaking someone lol. Even if he overtook him and Verstappen swooped past him at the straight, Verstappen would be penalized (like later in the race). Hamilton shouldve known this because he did this himself once and got penalized too. There was no reason for Hamilton not to pass him, Verstappen would get a penalty no matter what, either in giving position back or a severe time penalty.

[@williemckinney2168]

Thank you, you covered EVERY base. No one, not one, can be made with you. Merry Christmas to All! Cheers!!!

[@edsvideos4375]

I mis two important things in this analyses: - when were teams told that Verstappen should geven up his position (listening or not, because I seem to remember that Mercedes was told to always listen) - when were the drivers told?

[@pruthvireddy5007]

Does a driver need to be told to overtake his opponent in racing under no flag? Surprising!

[@MurCellic1903]

@@pruthvireddy5007 you don't fly past your opponent who has irregularly braked. Might be a crash ahead or debris. Have you never driven a car on a highway before? And giving position back should be done by giving the ideal race line too. You can't just park it in the middle.

[@raymondhartmeijer9300]

@@MurCellic1903 it can't be compared to a highway, at a Grand prix nowadays, even when a car is just off the track, immediatly there's a Yellow flag signal on the steering wheel of the cars. That wasn't the case here, if Ham was told to overtake by his team, he should've just move around Verst. He didn't want to do it there bc of tactical reasons. I don't believe giving the position back is the same as Blue flag. With Blue flag you must get out of the way, I'm not sure if Verst in this case should give the ideal line to Ham, that must be in the rulebook, but I don't know

[@pruthvireddy5007]

Check the race channels telemetry analyzing video, both were going at 150kmph on a straight where usual speed is 300 when Max dropped suddenly and further low. They were already at 50 percent speed to begin with. Which is why I wonder why did lewis reduce pace?

[@javiazar]

All of this brings into question if my obligation to "give back the position" has been fulfilled or not if I try to give it to you and you refuse. The rules need to be more clear on this.

[@andrewphillips90]

Max was weaving in the middle of the track , I think Lewis was waiting for the track to get wider just at that point Max braked.

[@Thomas-qn4hj]

@@andrewphillips90 Lewis slowed down to stay behind Max, he had more than enough room to pass on the left.

[@fablewalls]

@@Thomas-qn4hj so you just going to ignore the weaving and sitting in the middle of the track facts? Or even Max possibly braking just as Lewis might try jinking past? 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

[@dylanfarnum4121]

No, of course it has not been fulfilled, because you are still in the position you gained illegally by going off track. Additionally, Max had no reason to be in the center of the track intermittently jamming the brakes and throttle trying to time Lewis' overtake so that he could immediately get DRS and re pass him. If you're a good driver, you simply move to the edge of the track, slow down and allow the other car to pass, then speed up again, and THEN begin attempting to position yourself to overtake legally. To begin making active preparations to overtake the car that you owe a position to, before they have even passed you, is not giving up your lasting advantage. Unfortunately for Max, despite the huge aerodynamics advantage Red Bull have this season, his car can't keep up with the Mercedes, and he knows that, so he feels he has no choice but to drive like an ass clown because he knows he can't beat Lewis legitimately.

[@fablewalls]

@スペースマン You're just lying. Video clearly states at 07:05 onwards yet you Red Bull guys will see rain as sunshine as long as it involved Max.

[@jlahoud94]

Absolutely love the data in graphics. A special KZbin page for F1 enthusiasts like me. I was waiting religiously for this video since they crashed on Sunday.

[@petkopetkov7858]

I keep on watching this graphics and can't stop thinking, that their braking and acceleration points overlap prior to the incident which would assume that they were on same part of the the track at the same time, which was not the case. Max was ahead of Lewis and his brakeing and accelerating should happen before Lewis's. I think the overlap is not time shifted with the time difference relating their position on the track, this changes how reacted how.

[@TeachAManToAngle]

I thought Hamilton said at that point he didn’t know Max was supposed to give up the spot? Lewis slowing like that sure seems to indicate he knew what Max was doing.

[@julianmorgan79]

Of course he knew, Hamilton Constantly freigns ignorance to avoid punishment.

[@rob-c.]

100%. What if Verstappen had a problem and was nursing the car to the pit lane? Was Hamilton going to sit behind all the way just in case? - I don’t think so. He knew and wouldn’t take the place back being offered. Max asked a very important question (by continuing in the lead) which will have to be cleared up for next season - How long do you have to wait for someone to take the place back before you are allowed to get on with your race?

[@psychologicalprojectionist]

Hamilton certainly didn't know what MV was doing at the start of the incident and he probably wasn't certain when Max weaved and slammed on the brakes and then accelerated away when he saw Hamilton position himself for the overtake. Whether or not Hamilton had a notion of "playing" for DRS detection, is not important and I think the data shows the Hamilton was accelerating and likely to overtake before the DRS line anyway. He was just using caution overtaking a driver who would benefit from taking him out of the race and drove accordingly.

[@alimantado373]

@@rob-c. What utter BS. 1. you give back the place in a safe manner at a safe place or incur a penalty 2. You dont accelerate then brake then accelerate (As Stapp did repeatedly) 3. Who brakes in the middle of the track? Surely you have to give the driver some room to pass. Yes both were trying to gain advantage at the DRS zone, but erratic driving by Stapp caused the collision, should have been grid penalty for him. the amount of bad driving hes displayed this year he shouldnt be on equal points at this stage of the season.

[@madhurpatel3644]

This season is absolutely nuts. Can't wait for the finale🌋

[@ElGonzoMayor]

I wonder why 44 was in the back of 33 when he saw him considerably reducing speed. And how much of the blame goes to race control for not advising on time to 44 that 33 was to let him pass.

[@joshhiggins9431]

Problem is the team is notified and then the message is passed on. Race control does not typically talk directly to drivers as it may be too distracting and considered unsafe.

[@ElGonzoMayor]

@@joshhiggins9431 Exactly. The problem was in the procedure. Cause even if Merc knew, they didn't warn Lewis on time. But still I'd like to know why Hamilton remained in the back of Max as he slowed down. Makes no sense.

[@NicotheSpeel]

Okay hear me out. How about, if a driver has made an illegal overtake, the next time he crosses the start-finish line, he is shown a new flag with the meaning that he has to let the car behind him through. If by the end of the next lap the driver is still in front, then the stewards have to investigate the overtake. I think this would make the whole thing more official and less confusing and dangerous.

[@simonwatson2399]

That would work most times, but at this circuit as second DRS zone is along the start finish straight the manoeuvre max was trying could have been times so that he passed Hamilton with DRS after the S/F line.

[@grahameida7163]

@@simonwatson2399 Maybe disable their DRS for that lap as well

[@simonwatson2399]

@@grahameida7163 maybe, but I suspect it would be hard to write a rule that would always work. Imagine if there were in a DRS train for example. Who knows?

[@NicotheSpeel]

@@simonwatson2399 But I dont think that would be a problem. You could define it like as soon as the flag is shown you have to let him pass at the next safe opportunity and you have to stay behind until the end of the lap. And by that point he would be allowed to try again.

[@simonwatson2399]

@@NicotheSpeel not disagreeing that it could work and it's definitely better than what we have now.

[@florisbackx1744]

4:26 this is the main point. If Hamilton didn't know Max was ordered to let him pass it would mean we was in racing mode. I have never seen F1 champion not taking the opportunity to overtake their competitor. Imagine Max loosing power and Hamilton not just passing him. He was clearly playing mind games, just like they were doing with Bottas intentionally slowing down preventing Max to take a pitstop during the safety car as well letting wait Max wait very long at the restart. That doesn't excuse Max's reaction however, he should have played it cool and not try to force Hamilton in the lead by touching the brake. He clearly steers to the right just as he brakes. But I do dislike the disingenuous behavior and the acting like saint from the Merc side....

[@meneldil7604]

my point is why would you drive at something that is slowing for he new max had a mechanical and was stopping

[@aasavshah3183]

That's just implausible, because Lewis could see Max going at speed, then slowing, then speeding up and moving onto the racing line, before moving back over and slamming the brakes. If max were to have been losing power, he would an a negative linear deceleration off the racing line, and would notice smoke or some sort of issue. Also for Bottas and the restart: I read into it. It seems that Bottas was slowed just enough, barely outside the range of a penalty. And Lewis was not obliged to stay within 10 car lengths because the rule said it was only for yellow flag periods, not restarts.

[@dragonkrieg4444]

@@meneldil7604 if he was stopping he would pull over to the side of the track and there would be yellow flags waved. not slowing then accelerating then hard braking again in the middle of the track.

[@flavious27]

With the way max was driving, slowing down then speeding up while in the middle of the track, that is going to create confusion. Merc and Hamilton were not told that the position was being given back. Without that communication, max was not off the racing line to signal he was giving the position back. In addition, Max was not constantly slowing down. And when Hamilton saw what Max was trying to do and pass him on the left, max hit the breaks. This is Max and FIA's fault. The FIA should have told Merc. But they should also have rules in place to stop this kind of behavior of giving positions back in disingenuous ways. And max, Horner, and Marko did not want to give the position back without taking an advantage.

[@meneldil7604]

No he simply did not want to pass before the drs zone in steed crashed in to the back off max if this had been on the road it wouldn't be Max's fault the bigger issue is the FIA don't no is arse for it elbow and would rather bargain with teams instead of enforcing the rules

[@etr_dylan5867]

Stewards to Max and Lewis :Have a clean race Max and Lewis : A clean race huh Stewards: Why you two again

[@jammin8300]

I think FIA need to look at rule change for when where places must be given up regarding DRS zones to make it clear for all drivers to avoid this i. Future

[@darrenjackson813]

It's kinda a rule already, because if you do this and take the place back like 2 secondds later, your not eliminating your unfair advantage.. which giving the place back is meant to negate. This is why Max had to give back the position on Lap 42 because he got the DRS and took ham straight away and took off down the straight with DRS still.

[@LexeLite]

Or simply, hand back any unfair advantage you gain immediately, not after a few laps and doing it strategically.

[@benigro12]

Query… if Hamilton by own admission thought firstly that there was a yellow he missed, then he surely should have kept more distance. Instead he didn’t understand why Max had slowed down. Unaware Max in this case could have had engine trouble, gearbox trouble and so on… in that case coming up close behind Verstappen was ludicrous, and remember Lewis claimed not to know the reason for Verstappens slowing down. It’s this unknown that gives Lewis shared blame. However, Mercedes claims that they were unaware about Red Bulls decision to give Lewis back the place, and claim the the FIA only made them aware at the time of the overtake. I find this part seriously hard te believe as teams listen in to any and all radio messages. It’s my believe that Mercedes played unaware in order to play this penalty game. Penultimately, the FIA do away with their responsibility regarding the give back order failing to make Mercedes timely aware of the decision and as a consequence influenced the situation. I am if the opinion that non of this would have changed the outcome of the race, but to put all blame on Verstappen is a cheap shot. Had Hamilton gone past Max full speed assuming he had engine trouble nothing would have happened… instead he chose to close in on the back of Verstappen not know why Verstappen was slowing down and collided.

[@y_gagaring]

My thoughts exactly about radio transmissions, Mercedes is so quick to say they did not know he was giving the place back but everyone knows all transmissions are open to hear. We've all heard engineers tell the drivers that blah blah is having issues push push push. So for Mercedes claiming they didn't know is down right ridiculous, if they didn't know then everyone on their pit wall including the engineers in the garage should be fired. Data shows how far and long Max had been slowing down. These are all just games each team is playing but because of the sad to say British bias Max is the enemy of it all and Lewis and Mercedes can do no wrong. There is blame both ways all over in this incident but the media and some fans put it all on Max.

[@terryurquhart2413]

All because Verstappen is a dangerous driver ….. all the other drivers know it …. You guys are obviously MV fanboys …..Red bull did themselves no favours by advising the boy to do it a strategic manner ..

[@brooksfarmer5795]

It was interesting cause bono was telling lewis that max was giving the place at the moment of the crash and immediately after so they definitely had knowledge of what was happening

[@donaldtracey4541]

No wonder you got 26 likes . Your comment tells me a lot about you Ben . Did you know when you Hate!! you are Defeated .

[@RevvyF1Der]

How would you like to know that every word of what you just said was wrong.

[@Chris-vi6tg]

the first person to tell is Hamilton ... “Lewis, Max will be instructed to give back the position, be on the lookout for his maneovre to let you by, we will tell you when he has been informed”.

[@K_Diggy]

If the FIA reprimanded Max and Red Bull for what he did in Brazil, none of this would have happened. How come Mercedes didn't get the message Max was giving back the place. I didn't like this race because it was bad, an other "Fans" love it because of the drama and chaos. Both F2 sprint races were more enjoyable to watch, an F2 the last few year has been more enjoyable then F1.

[@NexuJin]

Racing itself was furious. But the governing of any incident was simply a shitshow by FIA. Honestly the fighting words of the team managers also doesn't help.

[@wgfinley]

Thanks for the detailed analysis based on actual facts. Work like this is why I'm proud to be in The Race Members Club.

[@iammadeofsound]

Max will get his championship title eventually that’s for sure he is an awesome driver. But to hell his on track ethics and style. This shitshow shows you who’s worth the title. Amazing race on an amazing track. Cant wait to see the end of the season!

[@jamesf7437]

He is not an awesome driver... he is so overrated... up until this season, his results were poor... at the beginning of the season, RB were far ahead of Mercedes because of those forced changes, now Mercedes has caught up... Max is 7 years into F1 and has not won the WDC... he is not as special as people like to make him out to be...

[@Jeb_06]

@@jamesf7437 salty hamilton fan

[@simonwatson2399]

@@jamesf7437 of come on. I'm no MV fan but his qualification lap up to his mistake shows real skill, good car or not. I do think though that in 7 years he should have managed to clean up the mistakes.

[@TheEkkas]

Not if Russel has anything to say about it. :)

[@mrworldwide187]

@@jamesf7437 yeah, no. The car was bullshit the years before and he'd have already won the championship if Silverstone and Hungary wouln't have happened.

[@chestercallahan8856]

Your title rival is in front of you, there is no confusion just pass him.

[@geo41e]

Well, there you have it fellas. Max knew Lewis was on his arse, and he knew both were thinking the same regarding the DRS detection zone. Max pretty much did brake test Lewis.. and my opinion, was to damage his car, to the point where Lewis would either DNF or not get enough points for the next round. There was 100% no reason to brake that hard, knowing somebody is behind you... and if you really wanted Lewis to go past, get off the line then brake. Dirty Max 100%. In saying that, I do hope he matures more in the coming years n wins multiple titles.

[@hamcrazy96]

I think it was clear to all what happened live, everyone who has a different take is just lying for their boy Verstappen

[@jrodrc4137]

Yeah completely ignore the fact they they were going 200kmph slower than they should have been and it was hammy who braked first. Even admitted to not want to pass there because of Drs. Down shifted 4 gears to not pass. This was both of them playing games. Would have been great to see hammy get taken out of a race for once.

[@hamcrazy96]

@@jrodrc4137 except he avoided the crash on purpose sucks when dirty tactics don’t play off. Downshifting 5 gears rapidly 300+ meters away from the turn is worse

[@thomasnichol4138]

@@jrodrc4137 Hamilton is not obligated to pass at Verstappen's convenience. He's causing no danger to Verstappen. Verstappen knew exactly where Hamilton was and braked in the middle of the track. Penalty deserved.

[@KG780c]

If Max was going 200kph slower even without braking why didn’t LH just keep on the throttle and blow past him. Even with drs I don’t think Red Bull could even catch him to try a pass. The Merc has been such a dominant car in this era. There are 10 drivers that could drive that car and win.

[@sniggs101]

A number of reasons explain this. From the complete farce of handling incidents on this track and with blind corners, in Hamiltons position I would be worried about a potential obstruction on track or a slow car in front of max. No info from the pit wall to tell him what's happening, it could be anything. The last thing any driver wants to do at 180mph is swing left and meet a really slow car or debris. It's instant death or severe injury. The other factor is the position of max on the track, he made very little effort to move to the outside, keeping his car relatively central so giving no clear indication that he was letting Lewis past. Every case where someone has to give the place back they go to one side of the track or the other to show intent. Regardless of how much space is available either side, keeping to the middle of the circuit leaves too many possibilities and what if's. Then of course the whole issue of who would reach the drs detection zone first. We will never know fully what was going on but hopefully a situation like this won't happen again.

[@junsengjs]

@@sniggs101 It was a long pit straight though. If Hamilton cut to the middle early he would have seen the hypothetical crashed car. And it being the pitstraight with the most eyes around, it would extremely unlikely that the flags/dash aren't waving when there is a crash there. If anything, Hamilton wouldn't be able to see any flags or anything at all if he stayed behind Max, which he did. If there was crashed car(s) and Max has to steer around them, being right up to Max's rear there is the absolute worst place you can be at.

[@lukeheskett]

If we start this analysis from the perspective of two adroit racing drivers, then you see that even when a driver is ordered to give up a place, it can be done in such a way as to give yourself some advantage. It appears clear that some gamesmanship is on display between these two exceptional drivers. The front driver slows the following driver slows, as to not allow the front driver the advantage of timing the exact time to get back on throttle, just the same, the front driver can feign slowing to just speed up to then throw off the timing of the overtake by the following driver. These strategies are seen when restarting behind a safety car, and of course are done in accordance with FIA guidelines, so we can peruse this data ad infinitum, but ultimately you are seeing two skilled drivers using all their wiles on track. Giving just enough room to pass, DRS, acel/decel inputs, delayed passing, feigning allowance to passing… all likely factors resulting in the controversial meeting of the two drivers. To say Max did it on purpose, yes of course he is a professional racing driver that is in control at all times, to extol Lewis was confused, “didnt know what was going on, “ is a gross misjudgment in his driving acumen. Let’s remember, at any given time a power unit can fail causing an immediate slowing of a car on track without warning, or perhaps an obstacle on track causing sudden deceleration…in these instances the following cars slow and take a cautionary line or pass, few would decide to follow the same line as the leading car.

[@SixOThree]

Disable drs for both drivers until overtake is complete or only allow overtake at specific part of track.

[@ytwatch]

Total Nonsense

[@franklinniesterjr3812]

Totally agree with your assessment Luke. 7 time champ says "I was confused"? We KNOW that EVERY TEAM can hear radio transmissions from EVERYONE on the track. How could TOTO allow Lewis to be "confused"? My opinion,....Lewis hasnt seen any competition in 6 years. Merc was underperforming early on, a lot of controversy about the Mercedes car, which hasnt had any competition in 6 years. Mercedes car gimmicks i.e. floppy wings, trick rear, front end trickery with suspension, MAGIC buttons,.....basically underperforming until Max gets punted into the barriers at Silverstone. Lewis has also done some DIRTY driving, which a 7 time champ should have no problem concealing, taking every opportunity to send chatter across the channel for the Stewards and Masi to hear about other drivers. Merc and Lewis are NOT treated the same as everyone else, and EVERYONE KNOWS IT. MAX is driving like a man hungry for a title and Lewis is driving like he's protecting a non-existant point lead.

[@bradgibb7518]

Well said Luke, and Franklin below. Absolutely it was strategic, but if Lewis really 'had no idea' what was happening, what's to say that Max wasn't passed out or some power failure? Who would he not just keep his foot down and pass? Yes we can get into dirty track and not on line and blah blah blah... but you would think 'hey look that car in front of me is slow, I'll go round him', not straight up his arse. So many angles to this one. No matter what, everyone is going to be mad at it haha. Here's to a great final race this weekend!

[@sajjadhashmani4064]

Im not an F1 driver but when Im driving and the guy in front of me slows down, I either slow down too or move to the next lane to overtake him. And I dont even get paid to overtake people in cars. Understood, lewis got confused, but not rear ending someone is a natual instinct irrespective of the situation.

[@kristianvanvliet4821]

Hamilton “ why is Max driving so slow on the straight?! there’s only one thing to do, pull up right behind him”

[@davestrider2045]

To be fair Hamilton’s blip in the throttle could be the result of the impact jostling everything around

[@denegra]

No. It was pretty clear that he got on the throttle at the same time Max braked. You can even see in the video that he moved to overtake right there as well. I think this video's analysis is spot on. I do not think it was a brake check and just two drivers trying to not give each other an advantage... that coupled with Masi not letting Merc know what was going on fast enough.... although you'd think the 7-time world champ (soon to be 8th) would know exactly what was going on. Regardless, this has been the best season of F1 in recent history... enjoy the battle.

[@mumulester]

Hamilton moved out of line because there was a Red Bull suddenly braking at 2.4g ahead. Right before the accident, they had identical speeds, and Hamilton was braking, so the only way he could have hit Verstappen from the rear is if the Red Bull was slowing faster than a car with the brakes applied, which the speed graph confirms.

[@denegra]

@@mumulester he moved the wheel before hand.

[@denegra]

@@mumulester not to mention, he accelerated before the impact.. which also lends to him trying to pass max at that moement.

[@Ashaman0gbg]

Question: What if Verstappens car actually had broke down, say he couldnt steer properly and gearbox was failing - Yeah say his steeringwheel just flat out failed. (for sake of argument) Which in turn would cause rapid slowing. Hamilton saying 'I am confused' is clearly not an excuse for him to then run up Verstappens rear. Now that scenario is farfetched, I know.... But doesnt this speak for the mindset of Hamilton being quite off aswell? He even said in the interviews after the race that 'he didnt know if there was something wrong with the car or not', which makes (to me) his handling of the situation really strange. I Personally think it was almost Hamilton daring Verstappen (naturally he didnt want to crash, but still a dare) - and Verstappen fell for it, out of frustration. Frustrations shouldnt dictate how you race, but I think merc and Hamilton are well aware that the best way to put Verstappen off his game, is to get his emotions riled up. Which was consistantly done from the first yellow flag and onwards (Bottas slow lap, Hamilton 10 car lengths etc etc). You could then see it, continue after the race, in the podium interviews. Hamiltons answers, while correct, were worded in such a way that it would add more fuel to the fire. The mindgames are real.

[@nelsonmartins1777]

I believe Hamilton still had time and space to pass and chose not too even though Verstappen was slower than normal which added to the confusion. A 7 time world champion all of a sudden forgets how to overtake a slower car? Very suspicious.

[@j.3o21]

He didn't want to overtake, he wanted the DRS advantage, or at least wanted to keep it away from Max. It is what it is these things happen.

[@jimyy3435]

Exactly

[@ctx4241]

I was looking for telemetry instant it happened, sick of F1 warriors arguing to death for either of two. gj on extracting this

[@2005StangMan]

The brake pressure is what’s really needed but you can hear Max’s revs drop dramatically right before the collision, meaning he hit the brakes pretty quick.

[@IAmSomeTreyGuy]

The amount of sugar coating in this video to attempt to make the brake check a "mistake" is kind of hilarious.

[@ermalmorina7261]

@@IAmSomeTreyGuy lol ikr. They make it seem like it was something usual. What Max did there was the highest level of unsportmanship I ever saw him do over the years, and it's a known he has done some.

[@Pj676]

Lewis is literally unable to overtake without DRS lmao

[@IZn0g0uDatAll]

So the situation is that 1- Max team knows but is not sure that he will get penalized for giving the position at a place where it makes absolutely no sense and tell him to give it at a « strategic location » knowing full well he might get a penalty but think the fia is so incompetent they might not apply their own rules. 2. Lewis knows full well it’s a move that should be penalized and should totally goes for it since Max should get a penalty like he did at Spa against Kimi but doesn’t trust the fia steward to understand the situation and apply their own rules. And they collide. If the FIA weren’t a bunch of incoherent donkeys and were able to draw clear lines in the sand, none of that would happen. Horner would never tell Max to go for such a bullshit tactics, and Lewis would know the rules are on his side and he doesn’t need to slow down like crazy too. Such bullshit.

[@TheTruthHz]

Totally agree. This race and Spa are the biggest jokes in FIA history so far. I'm getting to the point where I'm not going to watch if things don't improve.

[@Ceece20]

I mean to be fair for Hamilton, he probably knew the stewards are bullshit since they were the ones who didn’t penalize him for violating the double yellow flag during practice. When you don’t give any penalty for that, yet you gave a penalty for that literally the race before, you can kind of tell there is bullshit going on.

[@cuatro6456]

i totally agree with you, Massi should have instructed Max to give the place back in a specific section, no bargain just an order. but the incompetence of even having to bargain a place in a restart takes the cake of incompetence.

[@cuatro6456]

@@TheTruthHz Dont forget Brazil, its there they empowered Max to run Hamilton off track, by not investigating that incident, so i cant even fault max for doing it again, when the FIA say its OK.

[@Ceece20]

@@cuatro6456 they let Hamilton run Max off the road and into the wall on the British GP with just a slap on the wrists and a kiss on the cheek.

[@shriibrahim4424]

Wow....that was BRILLIANT BREAKDOWN of what happened with these data. I am a fan of your channel now. FANTASTIC WORK GUYS. THANK YOU FOR THE BREAKDOWN

[@alotl1kevegas860]

If Hamilton, wasn't so erratic on the throttle, he wouldn't of hit Max. Maybe he was intending to run into the back of Max? Hard to say, even with the telemetry data. That's why they should of just let them race. 🤦‍♂️🤷‍♂️

[@terryurquhart2413]

“Verstappen braked suddenly “ ……… To give a place back there is NO need to brake …it’s not the way to slow and allow the following driver to pass ….the heavy brake application is the reason for the collision ….simple ….

[@sajjadhashmani4064]

@@terryurquhart2413 he had to brake because when he slowed down, lewis slowed too. Lewis wanted to play chicken with DRS

[@alotl1kevegas860]

@@terryurquhart2413 Hamilton has pulled off this same move. It's called strategy. Let the car behind pass, before DRS detection zone, so you can get DRS and easily pass the car you just let past you. It's called racing, and accidents happen.

[@terryurquhart2413]

@@sajjadhashmani4064 ehhhhhh….no!……..coming off the throttle is the way to slow down …NOT heavy braking and moving erratically on track ……especially where he was on track at that time …..I think you need to rethink that …. Experience on a track would tell you that it doesn’t require repeated downshifting and heavy braking …which was found to be the case …

[@alotl1kevegas860]

@@terryurquhart2413 When you drive your car, do you roll off the throttle, and steadily roll up to the stop sign, with no brake pedal? I highly doubt it. If rolling on the throttle was all that was needed, vehicles wouldn't have brakes at all!

[@rotnbazturd7569]

Seems everyone is over looking the issue of Mercedes not telling Hamilton about Max having to give position back. Just after the collision there is a conversation between stewards and Mercedes in which Mercedes admits they didn't tell Hamilton about getting the position back. This needs to be taken into account it is a big factor in how that incident evolved.

[@Cynyr]

I don't think we'll ever know the exact order of things. I think it should go lead team agrees to give place back and tells race control, race control tells following team. Following team informed driver and gets ack that driver understands, following team informed race control, race control tells lead team to swap cars ASAP, lead team tells driver to obviously pull off line and slow steadily. Honestly the real issue here is that this is all "convention" and not actually in the rules. As much as I want to see them go racing the rules need to be applied consistently and written in a way where any stewards panel would come to the same conclusion if down the same event.

[@zerobomb0]

So my thoughts on this after reading a few comments are as such. I believe one reason Max stayed in the center of the track vs pulling to the right would be so he does not pick up dust and dirt and marbles. And to be fair, the in car video of Lewis makes it appear there was very little room to pass on the left. But the aerial footage shown once during a replay showed a lot more room to pass. A significant amount and on or close to the racing line. Maybe there should be a new rule to where if a place needs to be given back, then nobody gets to use DRS until the next DRS zone. This should at least slow down some strategic give backs and make an accident less likely. I really don't think Max wanted him to crash into him. I believe he was running out of track before the DRS detection zone and wanted to force the pass to happen. They went from a 30 kmh speed difference (not terribly significant) and they both slowed down dramatically before the incident happened. Usually a slowed car is a gift and the trailing driver takes full advantage. Especially a 30 kmh difference. So I do see more from this video why Max was predominantly at fault, but Lewis contributed to it too as nobody wanted to give the other the DRS advantage.

[@8thlvlMage]

Such a sudden slowdown on this particular track could mean an incident on track is ahead, or given the way Max was driving like he was on meth, Lewis probably didn't want to be anywhere near his car out of sheer suspicion. There was no way for Lewis to know for sure, and his engineer had just got the information. Max could have given the place back earlier in the lap and used that same DRS zone to catch up. The only reason why he wouldn't is because he knew Lewis had more life in his tires and he's extremely aware of how fast the Merc is in clean air. Bad timing, desperate driving, and general confusion are what made the crash happen.

[@brianlobo1512]

If there was an accident or an incident ahead surely Lewis’ engineers would have told him so, so that’s not a reason or excuse for him refusing to pass. The OP is spot on. They’re both using the same tactic and Max forced the pass but took the penalty.

[@specialingu]

@@brianlobo1512 if max is ahead and knows lewis is right behind him, why jam on the brakes?. its a high speed blind bend, its max... i can see reasonable reasons to stay behind... and his lack of reaction to getting hit...

[@foobar8894]

@@8thlvlMage The whole idea that Lewis was suspicious and didn't want to be anywhere near Max is clearly not true. He was right on his tail for quite a bit before the incident, clearly he wanted to be as close as possible (but behind at the DRS checkpoint).

[@walsmachinist1]

@@8thlvlMage Max did not know that Lewis was not given the right information, so he could not expect all the things thtat were going to happen. The miscommunication from Lewis plays a big role in this incident, it is not particularly Max his fault!

[@76egbert]

your analysis is nice but only valid if the timestamping of Hamilton and Verstappen (the alignment between the data of the two) is accurate to the milliseconds. Can you be sure?

[@trigonvisuals]

Considering this all started in turn 1. I think its unjust that red bull waited till the penultimate corner to try & give the place back, because if VER had lost the lead into turn 1, he wouldn’t have been able to follow the Mercedes closely through section 1 and 2 to have DRS in the first place. Max is a world class driver hopeful he gets the right guidance to continue learning and growing.

[@kritischekijker645]

I believe he was told to give the position back in turn 22/23. So he tried to give the position back on the first straight.

[@VIEWMARY001]

Last race rule: Causing a collision will result in 10 points deduction lol

[@planetdustbowl4825]

I thought the same :)

[@andrewbell7579]

Actually this has been done before, Schumacher was disqualified and points deducted after he took out Villneuve in the last race, so the FIA have the power to do it, although they could use Torro Rosso to do it.

[@noname-sd5dt]

@@andrewbell7579 tsunoda could, but not because of team orders, just because.

[@patrickgeerlings4192]

@@noname-sd5dt Or Fernando, who hates Lewis' guts, like almost any other non-british driver in the field....

[@fastberry82]

It is just crazy that drivers normally go for every gap with minimum speed difference in order to overtake. In this situation there is a 200 km/h gap compared to regular velocity and plenty of space to overtake. Still this driver continues to refuse to overtake and make use of the gap on the inside. Also the data seems to show the velocity decreases quite consisently which does not seems to be erratic at all. Either the data shown is incorrect or the 'erratic' statement is extremely exaggarated.

[@gabrielsd20]

Look to Marko's statement about brake test on this situation.

[@Shifftee]

There is no rule which states that you have to overtake the slowing car in front of you right in front of the DRS detection zone

[@dylanfarnum4121]

Regardless of what Lewis was doing, there was simply no reason for Max to move to the middle of the track and then intermittently jam the brakes and the throttle trying to time it so that he could immediately get DRS and pass Hamilton again, effectively keeping the lasting advantage he gained by going off the track in the first place. Max obviously doesn't care what people think about him, but unfortunately he's done irreparable damage to his reputation in just the last 3 races. He sees a car approaching rapidly behind him and he sees red, he immediately starts swerving, refusing to brake, driving straight at the car that just passed him because he can't stand being slower. He has no self control and acts like a petulant whiny child when he doesn't win, and that's why the entire sport is losing respect for him.

[@nahualito]

I was waiting for this video so much!

[@bbb229]

Really depends on how you look at the data. I think Verstappen is at fault for the actual contact, though I do feel Hamilton is to blame aswell, In any other situation he would have gone passed full throtle, here he suddenly choose to stick extremely close to Max his back, why ? I have never ever seen someone do this if the contender infront is slowing down. The fact that Max would have tried to pass directly after using DRS is invalid as Hamilton knew it from own hand U get punished for that and could have just accepted it and let Max get a big penalty for not obbeying the rule that was implemented because of Hamiltons action in 2008.

[@franswessels810]

Spot on. It shows his true character, One gets used lying , Some get better in time. He and toto know they have met their match and frustration kicks in. Hamilton is a good driver, but not a racer, we have seen over and over he is in trouble having to pass some other driver that is his match. If it was not for such a good car, he would have lost races ago. Also remember Silverstone, which was deliberate action of Hamilton out of frustration being peopled by Max.

[@astratan2238]

Or, because he didn’t at this point know that verstappen was ceding position, he thought it was just an excessive case of DRS chicken and didn’t want to lose out on the straight where he was certain he was going to pass Max anyway.

[@dir114]

Someone with drs still has advantage either he take over other car or not

[@dylanslaney]

100% this. I can't believe how much traction just blaming Verstappen has gathered. Hamilton truly does seem to get away with murder.

[@dylanslaney]

@@franswessels810 very true, how many times last season did we Hamilton Spin opponents cars off in the exact same maneuver! just a little understeer into the back right wheel of his opponent and off they go!

[@grayaj23]

Ultimately, I don't think the intentional brake check version holds up and I think Hamilton's post-race interview shows his state of mind that it was at least partly down to confusion and not malice. Verstappen's behavior was and should have been punished, but it's consistent with a young driver in an extremely tense situation (both in the race that day and in the overall championship fight) being petty about yielding position. I think the risk to both cars is something he'd have had in mind. A screwup on a brake check could as easily have taken Max out as it could Hamilton. As it is, Max is lucky to have kept P2. I think it's fair to say from the way both cars are running that he's now an underdog to win the championship. I just hope it's clean (and exciting) however it plays out. Even on points going into the last race? Has that ever happened?

[@priceless073]

not since 1974, this is the second time in f1 history i believe

[@bluntgames]

A bit bias, the data says Max pressed the brake pedal at 69 bar, the resulting impact G's and trace data are kind of mute after that.

[@keepthemhonest2]

The data says that Max increased his brake at that same time as Lewis started accelerating. All the trace data for Max is kind of mute after we see Lewis accelerating into a slowing car.

[@rsporsche]

It's not mute it's moot. And maybe the sample rate is too low but the data shows only a tiny application of throttle from Lewis and no increase in speed

[@stktriz]

2.4g is nearly what astronaught feel when taking off and go and listen to 8:07 to 8:20 again basically max is a nob

[@gaad7938]

The explanation at the beginning of the video stated the the brake data is "binary" - either applied or not applied.

[@IchiroSakamoto]

@@stktriz 2.4G is nothing. If you see a rocket taking off then you know how slow the initial acceleraiton is. A rollercoaster is like 6g and me braking for traffic light is like 3g, stop throwing g figures around to confuse clueless individuals

[@kaelbrianstratton8083]

I guess when I looked at this data, my question is, why would Hamilton have downshifted at all, if he got the notification to pass Max or not. It looks to me like Hamilton also slowed down when Max slowed down. So Max is expecting to be passed from a 30KPH faster Hamilton. Hamilton didn't pass. So Max would be a bit confused. And yea Max might be thinking Hamilton does not want Max to get DRS. So at that point, why would the onus be put on Max to further accommodate whatever Hamilton is doing behind him. Also, I think Max should reflect on this race and decide if this is the type a race car driver he wants to be, and be known for.

[@c-woods1214]

From what I understand I don’t think Hamilton got the message at that moment of time!

[@CatchMeNever]

@@c-woods1214 he got the message right as he hit Max

[@sekondnature101]

I believe there was room to pass initially but with Max having less to lose from both crashing out, Lewis' lack of trust in fair racing from Max, Max's slight movement right to middle as Lewis approaches, the speed they are traveling, I can understand why he hesitated. After his hesitation he's now closer to matching Max's speed and the DRS detection point becomes a bigger factor.

[@jahidk123]

Lewis can choose when to overtake

[@iamthedrumandbassfarmer8735]

The way this year ends at three completely nothing tracks is the real sting in the tail

[@irishmohawk2763]

Abu Dhabi is an unknown this year, as there are several track changes designed to completely change the flow of the track.

[@areebsiddiqui758]

This Jeddah track was surprisingly fun to drive despite having some safety issues which need to be improved. And it gave some pretty good racing apart from the top two. Did you even watch the race? Even Losail was better than expected. Abu Dhabi is an unknown considering the track changes which should hopefully improve racing.

[@GottHoldNicetomeet]

You see in your graphs, hamilton also slowed down when he didnt need to for that strategic part. So i relly dont see predominently only verstappen to blame if hamilton also slowed down.... 8:49 Not only verstappen should match that red line also hamilton should and he is also off that line. Meaning he intentionally slowed down.

[@baddas380]

Most of the media is Brit, so obviously there is going to be some kind of biased

[@oldschool8330]

Only one driver pressed the brake pedal..

[@Thomas-qn4hj]

You really think Lewis fans will see the truth.

[@daveash9572]

I don't know why everyone is saying that hamilton should have been told what was about to happen. If max had backed off the gas and pulled over to one side off the racing line, it would have been obvious what was happening. It's simple really, he didn't want to allow the pass, so did what he thought he could get away with and caused a collision as a result. Very dangerous indeed.

[@King0neEurope]

You didnt watch the video did you? Because we just learned he slowed down waaay more than he normally would have ro let somebody pass and that was because Hamilton didnt want to pass him there.

[@titanmode3888]

Dave Ash This. I have noticed all these channels don’t want to blame Verstappen for his dirty driving, they all try to soft Max’s dirty racing which is called “break testing” plain and simple

[@jsphblw]

@Dave Ash - Verstappen hadn’t pulled over to one side of the racing line. He was slowing down on the racing line and expected Hamilton to go around (which is fair). It wouldn’t be obvious to Hamilton that he’d been asked to let him pass. He was probably thinking 1994 when Hill came up to a slow moving Schumacher and Schumacher crashed him out. When Hamilton started to turn to get out from behind Verstappen, Max slammed the brakes and they ran into each other. Pretending like that was somehow Hamilton’s fault? That’s a little much.

[@CianMcCabe98]

Imagine if there’d been another car following behind and coming upon them both at a 200kph speed difference 👀

[@PortalooSunset]

When I first saw the video of the run up to the collision from Hamilton's car it was unclear what was happening. Due to the nature of the circuit you can't see very far ahead - the curves are quite blind. He suddenly comes upon Max moving slowly, but in the middle of the track at a narrow part of the circuit. There didn't seem to be much room to get past, especially with Verstappen's habit of swerving to prevent passes. My initial reaction was that either Max had a technical problem, or there was some kind of debris or incident ahead of him. They are both reasons that I'd not want to go flying past him. If he had a technical problem I'd fear a schumacher v hill 1994 conclusion. When you watch that collision with hindsight you realize hill should have stopped and waited for schumacher to retire, or at least hit a straight where a collision would have been harder to excuse. Similarly if there was debris ahead its another good reason to slow (both for his own safety, and that of other drivers if there was wreckage on track). Max's actions were certainly unpredictable - I've never seen a driver let another past by hovering on the racing line in the middle of the track.

[@maluatuavene9921]

These are my thoughts exactly. With all the craziness, people dismissing Lewis' confusion are just plain cynical. Max does not yield, so to see him slowing down, without the prior knowledge that he's giving up the place, would suggest that there's some serious debris on track (given what had been happening up to that point of the race). If he's slowing down to try to avoid debris on track you'll want to follow behind him. The point where Lewis could see that the track was clear up ahead is also the point where he tried to overtake Max but it is also the point where Max braked even harder and moved towards the middle of the track.

[@noname-sd5dt]

My thoughts initially, however fia declared that both drivers were considering drs advantages. LH even admitted this in post race conference. LH had a strategic mind working over time. But max clearly brake checked and as ruled was "erratic". Of course this wouldnt have been an issue without Max gaining an advantage by playing chicken in turn 1.

[@danruno]

ERGO: "it's complicated" Thanks, The Race, for "we don't really really know" Informative and insightful stuff

[@8thlvlMage]

That's every video on this channel lol.

[@ultraslowhand]

If Max was letting Lewis pass, why did he deliberately move into the very middle of the track before applying the brakes??? Definitely a nasty move.

[@azzzrie]

I'm totally agreed with you. Max should move to aside. Can I say that drivers are allowed to stay slow in the middle of the track during qualifying if they want to let another fast drivers to overtake.

[@HerveMaas]

Because Hamilton was waiting waaay too long to pass Red Bull... If Hamilton just raced passed as he easily could do it. What happened was like nearly walking into someone on the street and coming to a standstill and you and the oncomer choose to pass at in the same position. F.e. when you choose left and the other chooses their right. Meaning you would walk into each other. So it wasn't a nasty move, it was a confused one. Just like in the video was said. And honestly Jeddah IS NOT a racing circuit for these F1 cars. This track is horrible for racing and fun for qualifying. But F1 isn't about qualifying, its about racing. Which didn't happen here... at all.

[@azzzrie]

@@HerveMaas not really, why wait until the end of the track to let Lewis overtake or slowing down in the middle of the track. Another thing is Lewis did not know about the steward instruction.

[@andresalvarez4512]

2:49 Yeah right, the "7th" time WDC doesn't know Max was ordered to give back the position.

[@mjmfox]

Genius. about Max driving for 3 or four laps before giving back the lead. MAX IS BS

[@TheTororist]

its obvious what he was thinking. lewis just lost his front wing endplate. max probably figured he could create a large enough gap that a penalty wouldnt matter. he didnt count on lewis's wing being magical

[@bige9830]

So let me see if I understand this correctly. Lewis runs into the back of Max and Max's penalized. Maybe Lewis should have been paying a little bit more attention to his surroundings.

[@joydas-ps3mh]

One very important thing in this saga is if max and Lewis crash out, it's good for max. Even in last race if they crash out max wins the championship.

[@ananthu8534]

It's the crashes by Mercedes boys that reduced a 30 plus point lead to this level 😂 Don't forget that , every point counts ... Ofcourse Max take Lewis out in Monza but that time both failed to finish .

[@C0DW1TH5ANDEL5]

@@ananthu8534 You are wrong about Monza, Lewis forced Max of the track

[@bobcartledge5250]

Steering inputs would be good, because I'm wondering what each driver was doing with their wheels just before impact...

[@cameronnielsen6483]

To me, this is the best case against DRS. I'm a huge fan of the gamification it provides and skeptical that next year's changes will render it unnecessary--but if they do, there will never be incentive to go artificially slower for DRS

[@Jayyaj96]

I for one believe DRS is a good idea, but its been so poorly executed since its inception and needs an overhaul.

[@ctx4241]

DRS is not an issue here, lack of clarity for ¨how to let opponent pass" is, they both just know rules very well and maximizing what they can get.

[@elterrible06]

helmut marko has recently apologised, and that tells you a lot. brake pressure of 69 bar resulting to a 2.9G deceleration, you really have to step on the pedal to get 69 bar. of course despite the apology marko wouldnt call i a brake check, he'll call it more of a misjudgement. im sure as hell max wouldnt have done that if it was a non-stakeholder tailing him... like if that was bottas or leclerc, but Max knew it was hamilton right behind him. too bad he didnt get the result he wanted, he must be gutted to see lewis' front wing still hold up.

[@mamavswild]

He was only given a ten second penalty because the FIA did not find intent; at most it was a mistake and misjudgment. Lewis was penalized for throwing Max into a wall at Silverstone…I suppose he was trying to do that too just because I don’t like him. In fact, it was a mistake as well. Drivers and especially champions in a tight race make mistakes. Ham fanboys only feel they don’t think.

[@Ashaman0gbg]

@@mamavswild To be fair, neither sets of 'fanboys' think. So much rage to go around :D

[@elterrible06]

@@mamavswild im not a fanboy of that n*gga. comparing that incident to silverstone is like comparing apples and oranges. that thing you call "misjudgement" wouldnt have happened if that was somebody else behind him, but max knew it was lewis and he was willing to take the gamble. last thing max wanted to see was that front wing holding up. uhm by the way, ralf who's very close friends to the entire verstappen family is also very critical of max dangerous driving.

[@duanerutherford9033]

@@mamavswild So, just because they didn't find intent, that means it didn't happen? You also need to think, before you speak.

[@obamagaming6642]

@@duanerutherford9033 if you're gonna be a tosser, how about you work on your English before piping up? You've got two unnecessary commas and and a grammar issue in your comment. How about you think for once?

[@carls-95]

They should have a "long lap penalty zone" like in motogp. Would solve all of these issues...

[@fallenshallrise]

Great idea. They can't give a driver who has taken a place off track a drive-through because they would lose way too much time. But a detour around the outside of the run-off on one of the corners would be safe and only cost the driver a couple of seconds at most. Look at the "long" way around turn 2 at Barcelona, its barely slower than the racing line.

[@awellner3285]

Instead of time penalty or giving a position back they dont get to use drs for a full lap or half a lap.

[@TimmyTYP]

Thanks for the BRAKEdown 😉 This incident actually makes a little more sense now