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Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene has hit back with fury at Mercedes, after an accusation of deliberate foul play at Silverstone.
There had already been Ferrari vs Mercedes trouble in Austria a week ago, so when Kimi Raikkonen hit Lewis Hamilton at the start of the British grand prix, tempers flared.
"To word it like James Allison, was it deliberate or incompetence?" Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said.
Sebastian Vettel, who re-takes the championship lead after winning at Silverstone, called the accusations of deliberate Ferrari sabotage "silly".
But Wolff's counterpart at Ferrari, Arrivabene, was livid.
"Who is incompetent? Kimi? Who is he to judge what the drivers are doing in the car?
"If he really said something like that, he should be ashamed," he told Sky Italia.
"Allison worked at Maranello for many years, but now we are here in England teaching him to be a gentleman.
"I accept it from Jacques Villeneuve because he was a driver. But this guy?"
Red Bull's Christian Horner said it is obvious that "tension" between the top two teams is hotting up at the mid-point of an intense championship fight.
"When you have that growing tension, speculation is unavoidable when these incidents occur," he said.
"But I believe it's nothing more than a racing incident. I would be surprised if there was anything else or if Kimi is that kind of driver."
Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas also played down the incident and the accusations.
"We are always racing closely with Ferrari and there can always be contact," he said.
However, Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda commented: "The accident was just unfair. It was the second time a Ferrari has hit us in the first corner. That's not funny."
My view is, that not withstanding Kimi being penalised, the contact between Hamilton and Kimi was caused by Hamilton losing his rag at being overtaken by Seb and Valteri and cutting across Kimi. We did not get to view the overhead shots shown on other incidents, but I bet they are available somewhere. However, Hamilton was well away from the outside edge of the track and he must have been aware that Kimi was inside of him. We have seen this many times before from Hamilton, with Nico and many other incidents, he just loses his temper, sees red and deliberately causes contact, one day he will not get away with it, but frankly he's just dangerous and I wonder whether someone with his obviously very fragile mental make-up should actually be allowed to race in F1.
Couldn't agree more people let hamilton by because he will cause contact where he comes out unscathed when I raced I called a game of chicken come back n on me and u lose. Hamilton was the one who ran massa into the marbles in the tunnel he was the one who pushed Rodgers into being aggressive with Lewis. It is racing hamilton did not maintain his 'lane' in that corner he turned in as if no one was there contact almost always is the fault of both drivers . It is fn racing not follow the leader
Its a fair point. I was sorta leaning to it being more on Hammy first, but the penalty sorta got me to think that it was probably Kimi. But even so, I think it was a racing incident. But as you two say, Hammy can be pretty reckless in overtaking situations when the pressure gets to him. Thats when he does stuff like help the Mexican track marshalls with mowing the grass, or drive his team mate off the track, or collide with the team mate at the opening of the Spanish GP. So this is lucrative for Vettel as long as he can stay out of Hammy's reach. A pressured Hammy isnt a wellperforming Hammy.
@Calle.itw, I could not have said it better!! Particularly your Mexican example, that was outright cheating in my opinion, and just goes to show how much Hamilton is favoured by the British skewed officialdom.
It seems to me that Hamilton was the one out of position. Raikonnen was directly behind Bottas which would have lightened the front end of the Ferrari in the first place, Hamilton then cut in at a sharp angle putting Riakkonen on the curb and causing a further lack of down force at the front end of the Ferrari, of course Raikkonen over-steered into Hamilton's rear tyre, that was the natural outcome of Hamilton's aggressive maneuver...... what else could Raikkonen have done, waived Hamilton through simply because he had braked late on the outside of the track! ........ For Hamilton to then drop the bottom lip and accuse Raikkonen of deliberately taking him out is childish and poor form from the master cheat himself.
Raikkonen under-steered into Hamilton’s right rear tyre. He did not appear to lose car control before the touch. He was approaching from the rear and so he had the best view and the duty to avoid.
When the incident was raised at the post-race press conference, Kimi looked guilty as a doggy when asked, "Did you do that?" Plain and simple, Hamilton was GROPED. The tactic can be used once or twice more this season. It's something in the toolbox, like a player rolling around faking pain. Worked like a charm too.
I don't understand why Kimi recieved 10 seconds penalty. Vettel received 5 seonds for doing the same back in France. WTF?
The reason for it is that in France both drivers had to visit the pit lane because of damage, wheres here the two drivers could continue without visiting the pit lane. So in France Vettel punished himself, had to service and got an additional 5 seconds. Here, Kimi had nothing, just one place lost, so to even out the penalty they gave him a double time penalty.
Vettel was pure genius, even without the fatest car he can make moves like that right of the start line to make the best use of his machinery. The dogshit race card whiner Hamilton couldn't bare to be beaten by that sort of skill what's worse even bottas got past. Kimi saw a opportunity for a move, took it and was nose inside already but the idiot just closed the door too late.
This being the British GP Kimi gets the penalty instead. Wonder what Wolff has to say about the obvious bias there.
Vettel has got the dip5hit and Mercedes right where to hurts, that's the real reason for that old fart Niki Lauda to parrots whatever Lewser and Mercedes personal have to say about 'interesting tactics'
All this is going to provide a lot of fireworks and vettel will be pulling the strings on these clowns. Worth the watch, get the popcorn!
This was the best race since refueling and two tire manufacturers. Close racing leads to contact. Making your opponent make a mistake requires es u to be in a safe spot to tak advantage of the mistake . Let them race or bring back refueling to allow for a greater range of strategy. Better have 4 tire compounds and teams can chose 3 per race
Let's not take this banter too serious, by any standard.
It is fascinating to see how Mercedes suddenly falls out of tone, now that they need to race wheel to wheel, and actually fight for the first corner, instead of pulling away at the start line.
It does mean however that tensions are rising. Hamilton angry, team bosses calling each other names, it all adds up to the spectacle. We can only be grateful. So yes, let the games begin. Finally!
How Mercedes could suspect that incident of being deliberate is beyond me. Did Ferrari know that Hamilton was gonna muck up his start and let Vettel and Bottas pass? Embarrassing statements coming from Mercedes, frankly. In other news, and I don't understand why media hasn't picked up on that tid-bit of info coming from Räikkönen post race, is it just me that reacted to Räikkönen saying something like "It would have been better without the 10 sec penalty, but I'm doing my best, I'm doing all I can do, but obviously there are people who don't see it that way, which is a shame." There were whispers of Leclerc replacing Räikkönene before at Spa, and this statement from Räikkönen made me feel as if he's gotten the news already. He was driving a bit angry this sunday.... (??)
Oh its not as much suspect as it is them bullshitting to gain favour points. This is a golden opportunity for them to try to point at Ferrari citing they asked Kimi to collide into Hammy to reduce Hammy's shots at the title. They know they dropped the ball in Monaco when Ocon was directly ordered to move aside, and now they try to pull similar blame on Ferrari. I also dont think Kimi should've apologized post race. But thats Hammy to you. Going about blabbing his mouth and weaponizing media. I dont think Leclerc will replace Kimi this year, but maybe next year. Kimi has however picked up the pace quite significantly these last races.
When I first used 'Hammy' early in 2017 on another site saying, "Hammy is heavy on team loyalty" it came out because it was a nice alliteration and because his soft earnest expression, and dewy eyes reminded me of Hammy the hamster from the children’s show -- they floated hammy in a little boat and made him do other stuff and he was always quiet and accepting. It was a term of endearment and it will always be that for me.
If people want to keep bashing my hammy – the greatest driver in F1, saying he’s dirty and other lies, then maybe I will be critical of Sebastian Vettel. Would you like to hear that? How do you think he wins? I will tell the story:
I personally began to use it because HamHam didnt really roll on the fingers as nicely, and more people went along with Hammy here. :)
I dont really mind you "bashing" Vettel. You do you. Its just that Hammy is a driver that is sorta hit or miss. Either you like him or you dont. Very much like Zlatan. And like Zlatan he is good at what he is doing (even if he perhaps isnt as good as he say he is... buts thats just my 2 cents). :)
(It’s *jokes* he is a good guy)
Long ago, when Sebastian was a young boy he only ever wore leather shorts with suspenders that his father made for him. He used to walk finishing each step on his toes with his heel up and so he pranced through the mountains and forests in his lederhose and he did not wear any underpants because his mother made them out of coarse wool, and they were only good for winter. He was thin and weak and only his head was big because he was clever, but he could hardly hold it up. It bounced side to side like a big baby’s head when he was out on his long walks.
Now, years earlier, his father had worked hard in a cold shed by candle light to make a little go kart for St. Nickolas day. It was made out of wood and Sebastian was very excited when he saw it. He climbed in and drove straight into the wall. His leg was too weak to press the break and his arms were too weak to turn the steering wheel. Every time he went straight into the wall, but he would laugh with delight because he was a good humored child. So his father tied a long string to the back and the other end to a large fishing reel, and he reeled the boy back to start again.
It happened that on one of his long walks in a rugged, wooded part of the old country, Sebastian saw some nice flowers that he wanted to pick. They were hard to reach but with some determined sliding and climbing, he finally gathered a nice bunch to take home for his mother. It was then that he saw the opening to an old cave hidden from all views, and inside was the machine that made him able to win today. You have probably seen it shown in a movie called Captain America. He has that machine at his home now. I can’t describe it very well, except to say that it involves injections and electricity and it turns you strong. That, my friends, is the secret to the success of your German Superman.
Seems like a bit of reading Pinocchio in an Amsterdam coffee shop! Meanwhile, even from a Brit, LH is not a very good loser these days. He’s not always been that way, very down to earth and chipper in early F1 years vs. the brash German. To me, the tables have turned in both cases. Both are equally brilliant drivers but very different reactions to the podium finishes or not. Best drive of the day on Sunday, hands down LH but reaction to not winning was poor.
It was so funny watching Hamster cry foul like a little baby. What a Lewser not even taking questions after the race because he had to go off and sulk like a child not getting his way. Then he has the nerve to say it was Ferrari's racing tactics. Can't wait until he retires. Thought he was getting more mature over the years but this shows he's still just a big baby.
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My view is, that not withstanding Kimi being penalised, the contact between Hamilton and Kimi was caused by Hamilton losing his rag at being overtaken by Seb and Valteri and cutting across Kimi. We did not get to view the overhead shots shown on other incidents, but I bet they are available somew... [Read more]