Showing posts with label Weaving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weaving. Show all posts

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Hamilton defiant after criticism in drivers' briefing


Lewis Hamilton and his McLaren boss sounded defiant after the 25-year-old was chided by his fellow drivers on Friday.

In the wake of his weaving in front of Vitaly Petrov's Renault in Malaysia two weeks ago, some of Hamilton's rivals rallied to make clear their view that he should have received an actual penalty rather than a mere warning.

The drivers confronted Briton during a meeting late on Friday, and are believed to have pushed FIA race director Charlie Whiting to impose drive-through penalties for similar driving infractions in the future.

But Hamilton told British newspapers that he did nothing wrong.

"My feeling is that if you are defending into a corner and you weave more than once, that is illegal, but I am not aware that trying to break the tow was illegal," he said.

He also hinted that he felt his opponents had fixated on the Petrov incident.

"Maybe they should raise Mark Webber's incident in Melbourne. I didn't raise that," said Hamilton, referring to when the Australian driver drove into the back of his McLaren.

McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh defended Hamilton, insisting that the 2008 world champion is "entirely safe" despite racing "passionately", but new GPDA chairman Nick Heidfeld insists that weaving on straights should not be condoned.

"I don't know if it was dangerous in this case, but it can be in some circumstances," said the German.

Source: F1 Complete

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Drivers to discuss Hamilton 'weaving' in China

Lewis Hamilton will find himself a major topic of the pre-event drivers' briefing in Shanghai.

After the Malaysian Grand Prix two weeks ago, Renault boss Eric Boullier was critical of FIA stewards' decision to merely warn the British driver for an incident during the Sepang race.

The 2008 world champion weaved several times on a straight while the Russian rookie Vitaly Petrov was following him closely and trying to pass.

Speaking with the media in China on Thursday, F1 statesman Rubens Barrichello said he would have given the 25-year-old Briton a "bollocking" if Hamilton had tried the same moves during a wheel-to-wheel battle with him.

"It wasn't right," said the Brazilian, acknowledging that the McLaren driver is likely to argue that the moves were not made under braking.

He said: "But the drivers have an agreement, sort of an agreement - obviously a verbal agreement, nothing that has been signed - that you should move only once during the protection of your line.

"For me it was a Formula Ford thing. It shouldn't have been done, to be honest," added the Williams driver.

Robert Kubica also criticised Hamilton's driving on Thursday.

"The way he drove was not right -- I thought something should have been done. According to the rules, I think there should have been a penalty.

"Reading the regulations, I'm clear. Watching Malaysia, I'm not so clear," he added.

Mark Webber, an experienced member of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, tipped the issue to be "tidied up" when the drivers congregate for their pre-race briefing in Shanghai.


"You won't see Lewis doing that again in a hurry," said the Australian, amid suggestions that the stewards - assisted by well-known former drivers this year - are being more lenient in 2010.

"That was a new style, if you like, going down the straight like that –- and one that I think will be tidied up," Webber added.

Source: Motorsport