"Racing incidents" apparently only occur in the midfield nowadays. Maybe it was always like that, but we are getting towards the end of a hard championship battle that will most likely be tainted by decisions made by race stewards. We've already had three incidents (two if we exclude Bottas brainfade) that has tipped the scales in favor of one driver and it seem very likely that we will have more. As I see it, both Silverstone and Monza was race incidents: At Silverstone HAM tried a risky 50/50 move (which he as a racing driver is expected to do now and then) and very slightly overcooked it which ended Verstappens race. In that incident, nobody was really in a position to avoid it but I am confident Hamilton's understeer was unintentional. Racing incident. At Monza, VER did a 50/50 move that resulted in a situation where both drivers could have avoided the contact, but both expected the other one to yield. Racing incident.
The race stewards did not see any of the as Racing Incidents though, they handed out penalties. One penalty that was, and that must have been known by the stewards, on paper only. There was no doubt that the 5 seconds that HAM got would not in any way deprive him of his victory. The Monza incident gave Max +3 grid spots. That is substantial considering that both had plenty of time to avoid the contact.
My thinking here is that since they seem determined to stifle aggressive driving, "both are guilty" would be a better way to deal with it rather than the weak and controversial "predominantly at fault" judgement that they seem to feel obligated to serve. Give them both grid penalties, put them at the back, whatever, but if both drivers can avoid the contact and nobody does it, then both, or none, should get a penalty.
Maybe they need to consider bringing in permanent race stewards for the rest of the season to make sure there is consistency.
I'd like this championship to be decided on track.
Edited by Singularity, 16 September 2021 - 21:49.