[morini]

1) Seb was forced into yet another error by Lewis.

In the cold light of day that one statement is (for me) the only thing that matters.

That and the fact that Mercedes were faster in the race (again). Seb couldn't gap Lewis at all and on fact, lewis reeled the 5 second pit stop influenced gap very, very easily.

If it is any consolation to Ferrari fans I to think the penalty was a bit harsh, but if I were a steward I would have made exactly the same call. If you go off track you can't come back on and block the car behinds momentum like that. Lewis waould have been clean through there if there was room. 

I wouldn't of minded if Ferrari won this one as i honestly can't see them challenging for the rest of the season unless they come up with some sort of aerodynamic miracle

[NeilP]

Its easy to focus on the negative if that is how you view the penalty but lets not throw the baby out with the bath water it was a great race. The result while questionable in the eyes of some will have zero effect on either Championship. Mercedes will easily win the Constructors and barring injury, death or some other unforeseen circumstances Hamilton will be crowned Drivers Champion again.

[morini]

Mercedes will easily win the Constructors and barring injury, death or some other unforeseen circumstances Hamilton will be crowned Drivers Champion again.

I hope so. Like Vettel, I am a respecter and admirer of Formula 1 history. Some of the records Hamilton is setting will stand for a very, very long time. About time we had a British sportsman at the top of the all-time greatest list(s). Always irked me a lot having a German chap with all the big F1 records.

[DRicc]

This is going to divide down team lines I am afraid. I am trying to be neutral but maybe I cannot be.

One thing I will say its a good job his team got him to the Podium or there would have been major fines and possible penalties coming Ferrari's way. Binotto finally gets something right!

Well I don't support Mercedes or Ferrari, and I don't condone Vettel's reaction or the fans booing Hamilton. But some of the stewards' decisions are not very consistant - drivers have done much worse and got away with it as a 'racing incident'. It does seem sometimes that the penalty is awarded according to who is involved. Same thing has happened this year in FE: the stewards don't want to see any sort of contact whatsoever. While this may sound reasonable, it discourages any sort of wheel to wheel racing in case a driver gets it slightly wrong. And surely, if you never do any wheel to wheel racing then you don't have any practice doing it and we end up with cars just driving round in formation. There's been far too much of that over the last few years.

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Mercedes will easily win the Constructors and barring injury, death or some other unforeseen circumstances Hamilton will be crowned Drivers Champion again.

I hope so. Like Vettel, I am a respecter and admirer of Formula 1 history. Some of the records Hamilton is setting will stand for a very, very long time. About time we had a British sportsman at the top of the all-time greatest list(s). Always irked me a lot having a German chap with all the big F1 records.

Morini, if you are a 'respecter and admirer of Formula 1 history' then it shouldn't matter to you the nationality of the holder as long as they are the best. Personally I would respect Hamilton's records more if he had been playing on a level playing field for the last 6 years. And yes, before you say it I know it was ever thus, but I cannot recall an era where one team dominated quite so much for quite so long. Even tho Ferrari have closed the gap in the last 2 years all the other teams are nowhere really. Even my guy Daniel, who finished a brilliant 6th today (yippee!), was lapped. Of course I would prefer it if all the drivers had to drive basically the same cars (tried out with A1, but didn't catch on: wonder why? lol), then any records really would have meaning. Its why I never compare records from the past with those now - too much is different: technology; driver's fitness; even some tracks.

[Jody Barton]

It's over and done with now, but I suspect that will have lit a fire under Seb today. Despite what Hesh says I think Paul Riccard, Austria, Silverstone and Hockenheim Will favour Ferrari in slightly the same way Montreal has. However, we're all sitting here having witnessed another Lewis Hamilton win, that's 5 in 7 races and the 2 he hasn't won he came second in. I'd suggest Emo Bottas has run out of steam already and you'll start to see Seb being the closest challenger... By closest I mean finishing a million miles away but in second place.

[morini]

Well I don't support Mercedes or Ferrari, and I don't condone Vettel's reaction or the fans booing Hamilton. But some of the stewards' decisions are not very consistant - drivers have done much worse and got away with it as a 'racing incident'. It does seem sometimes that the penalty is awarded according to who is involved. Same thing has happened this year in FE: the stewards don't want to see any sort of contact whatsoever. While this may sound reasonable, it discourages any sort of wheel to wheel racing in case a driver gets it slightly wrong. And surely, if you never do any wheel to wheel racing then you don't have any practice doing it and we end up with cars just driving round in formation. There's been far too much of that over the last few years.

Ignoring the fact that some of us do support teams and drivers, I think all of that is pretty irrelevant in terms of analysing todays happenings and how the stewards need to do their jobs. For me, having re-watched the corner a fair few times I would say (talking in very generic non driver / team terms) the lead driver made a forced mistake and left the track taking to the grass, the following driver stayed on the track carrying much more speed and momentum but was prevented from continuing with that speed and momentum because of the lead driver blocking him on re-entering the track and not leaving a cars width between his car and the outside of the track (in this case a wall). For me that is a penalty any day of the week. If lead driver left enough room then second place driver was easily passed. Basically the pursuing driver forced a mistake and the lead driver was trying everything he could to stop the inevitable pass. Lead driver called it "out of contro, I had no optionl", but really he did not want to lose the position and could have positioned himself in th emiddle of the track.

Can't see why people question that stewards judegment myself.

[DRicc]

Well I don't support Mercedes or Ferrari, and I don't condone Vettel's reaction or the fans booing Hamilton. But some of the stewards' decisions are not very consistant - drivers have done much worse and got away with it as a 'racing incident'. It does seem sometimes that the penalty is awarded according to who is involved. Same thing has happened this year in FE: the stewards don't want to see any sort of contact whatsoever. While this may sound reasonable, it discourages any sort of wheel to wheel racing in case a driver gets it slightly wrong. And surely, if you never do any wheel to wheel racing then you don't have any practice doing it and we end up with cars just driving round in formation. There's been far too much of that over the last few years.

Ignoring the fact that some of us do support teams and drivers, I think all of that is pretty irrelevant in terms of analysing todays happenings and how the stewards need to do their jobs. For me, having re-watched the corner a fair few times I would say (talking in very generic non driver / team terms) the lead driver made a forced mistake and left the track taking to the grass, the following driver stayed on the track carrying much more speed and momentum but was prevented from continuing with that speed and momentum because of the lead driver blocking him on re-entering the track and not leaving a cars width between his car and the outside of the track (in this case a wall). For me that is a penalty any day of the week. If lead driver left enough room then second place driver was easily passed. Basically the pursuing driver forced a mistake and the lead driver was trying everything he could to stop the inevitable pass. Lead driver called it "out of contro, I had no optionl", but really he did not want to lose the position and could have positioned himself in th emiddle of the track.

Can't see why people question that stewards judegment myself.

Just playing devil's advocate here: how you actually know for certain that Vettel couldn't slow down? OK, he's in an F1 with exceptional steering and brakes, but he's on the grass. I'm not disputing it was his mistake that put him there, but after that only he knows how hard it was for him to slow and return to the track. I wonder what would have happened if there had been an exact reversal of the incident? Or maybe you think that Hamilton would never be forced into making a mistake? 
And in reference to the stewards I'm simply saying that in my opinion the steward's decisions are not consistant and it does sometimes seem to depend on who is involved.

[Antilochos]

I used to love this track in Canada...
Now I will only put in one post regarding this race and that is because it really, really disappointed me.

F1, the stewards, just fucked up and showed again why so many fans hate all these silly rules and start leaving the sport. Like I said in the chat, the sport is eliminering the human component with all these fucking rules and even then, when something happens, the fucking make sure to kill every last bit of a human part of racing. They just take it away, leaving an empty space of disappointment. What is next, stopping the race when it rains?

Truly, I get a sense that those people whole liked what happened today are Hamilton fans, no fans of the sport. Being honest, how can you feel good after that finish? What is there for F1 in the future?
Me, I don't care for drivers or even teams, I don't care for nationalities or any of that. I want racing. Men pushing those marvelous machines into corners and fight each other. I injoyed it for years, but lately it is become hard. I have found out that it is becoming harder to explain towards friends who are not fans of the sport. This is not good.

We need raw racing back. Hard battles, close fights every weekend again. No domination of a complicated chassis and engine that non of us understand, no fucking rules that 1) keep all those racers on a leach and 2) kill every action that is not "between the lines". I want to see men getting out of a car, exhausted and looking at each other respect, a battle well fought.

Again, today it was a anticlimax for me. Not only concerning the race, but for the sport. This is a lost year anyway. I truly hope the sport finds another direction in the future.

[DRicc]

It's over and done with now, but I suspect that will have lit a fire under Seb today. Despite what Hesh says I think Paul Riccard, Austria, Silverstone and Hockenheim Will favour Ferrari in slightly the same way Montreal has. However, we're all sitting here having witnessed another Lewis Hamilton win, that's 5 in 7 races and the 2 he hasn't won he came second in. I'd suggest Emo Bottas has run out of steam already and you'll start to see Seb being the closest challenger... By closest I mean finishing a million miles away but in second place.

You are probably right Jody, but I have to say its just so boring. Even worse than the Schumacher snoozefest. I can't get all dewy-eyed about the 'British champion' angle: not particularly patriotic where sport is concerned, and OK so he's British, but its a German car manufacturer, German money and a German team boss.
Its not their fault, but the lack of racing at the front is killing it for me. Not only me either, I used to speak to loads of people at various tracks who always watched every F1 race, but hardly anyone I speak to does now (of course not being able to watch live races on a terrestrial TV channel might have something to do with that). Even those with Sky Sports are watching more Indycar than F1. I did once joke that if you took out Mercedes, Ferrari and probably Red Bull from F1, the racing would be so much more interesting, but I'm not sure its actually a joke any more.

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I used to love this track in Canada...
Now I will only put in one post regarding this race and that is because it really, really disappointed me.

F1, the stewards, just fucked up and showed again why so many fans hate all these silly rules and start leaving the sport. Like I said in the chat, the sport is eliminering the human component with all these fucking rules and even then, when something happens, the fucking make sure to kill every last bit of a human part of racing. They just take it away, leaving an empty space of disappointment. What is next, stopping the race when it rains?

Truly, I get a sense that those people whole liked what happened today are Hamilton fans, no fans of the sport. Being honest, how can you feel good after that finish? What is there for F1 in the future?
Me, I don't care for drivers or even teams, I don't care for nationalities or any of that. I want racing. Men pushing those marvelous machines into corners and fight each other. I injoyed it for years, but lately it is become hard. I have found out that it is becoming harder to explain towards friends who are not fans of the sport. This is not good.

We need raw racing back. Hard battles, close fights every weekend again. No domination of a complicated chassis and engine that non of us understand, no fucking rules that 1) keep all those racers on a leach and 2) kill every action that is not "between the lines". I want to see men getting out of a car, exhausted and looking at each other respect, a battle well fought.

Again, today it was a anticlimax for me. Not only concerning the race, but for the sport. This is a lost year anyway. I truly hope the sport finds another direction in the future.

You have just said it all for me. Thank you.

[morini]

Morini, if you are a 'respecter and admirer of Formula 1 history' then it shouldn't matter to you the nationality of the holder as long as they are the best. Personally I would respect Hamilton's records more if he had been playing on a level playing field for the last 6 years.

I am a respecter of F1 history, but I also know the sport has a massively British heritage and I feel quite proud of that. I am aware you and I will never see eye to eye about the patriotism thing (and that is fine), but there have been plenty of non British drivers who I have admired over the years. Having said that I will always support a home grown F1 driver (absolutely any sportsperson actually) over another country’s contender. I have explained why this is in other posts so won't go into it again.

On the "level playing field" comment, I can't let that one go without pointing out that Lewis Hamilton (a British person, like you and me) has one outstanding record no other driver holds. He has at least one race win and at least one pole position in every season he has competed in F1. Nobody else can say that and for me it proves he can outperform his equipment. And don't tell me the 2009 McLaren was a race winning / pole position claiming car. It really wasn’t, McLaren cars around that era were complete dogs. Credit where it is due, there aren't many F1 drivers who have dragged poor cars to pole positions and race wins.

Also, Ferrari have had a great car the last few seasons, at least the equal of the Mercedes last year and 2017 too. It is the driver in the other team made the difference.
I do apologise that this is a bit off topic for the Canada race thread, but sometimes I feel the need to speak my mind.