Most liked posts in thread: F1 - 2012

I have a feeling this video won't stay up long before it's pulled, but here's a bit of detailed analysis of a few F1 flag rules and a few of Vettel's passes and the flag conditions at the time.

It's long-ish and excruciatingly slow, esp at the start, but hang in there. FWIW, I'm not judging or pointing fingers or whatever, the race is run and the title is decided, just trying to help move the discussion past the controversy.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFER0esusF0]Vettel Yellow Flag Passes at Brazilian GP 2012 - YouTube[/ame]

 

Very true. Plus, as some of the commenters on that video have said, there may have been a marshall waving a green flag on the left well before they got to that flashing green light and before the pass. The video isn't good enough to be sure but it may be true. If so, that last pass would have been legal despite the yellow lights on Vettel's wheel.

But I really only posted that video to help understand the pass on Kobayashi. :smile5:

 

Maldonado most penalised driver in 2012 (GPUpdate.net)

 

Perhaps not... [note in brackets is mine]

Analysis: Why Vettel's pass was legal (AutoSport.com)

 

Right, and the light at Turn 4 did show green, but there wasn't a light at the preceding marshal's post where the flag was apparently being waved. The marshal's post flag is therefore considered the beginning of the green flag zone, not the green light, the green light was within the zone.

The lights on Vettel's wheel were linked to the light system (they need to fix that) but the marshal's flag takes precedence because the waved flag was the first indicator of a flag change on the track.

I watched that video a number of times and noticed that Vettel held back and didn't even attempt to pass until he was past the marshal's post where they say the green flag was waving.

 

Yup.

 

I think the lights are a great improvement in terms of visibility, esp. in low light and lousy weather conditions, but that's also why this conflict between flags and lights not placed together is such an issue. In conditions of lousy visibility the flags are almost useless compared to the lights, yet spotting that dark green flag (dark because it's wet) can make a huge difference. If the drivers ahead of Vettel had seen the same green flag waving, they would have been on throttle at the same point and he wouldn't have been able to make that pass going into Turn 4.....and we wouldn't be discussing it.

 

'Vettel case is closed' - Ferrari statement (GPUpdate.net)

 

Di Montezemolo slammed Ecclestone big time, and in public, and while talking to the press!

Here's just the snip with the slam. I won't quote the whole article because the actual subject is old news we're trying to move past (it's mostly about his response to Ecclestone's criticism of Ferrari for questioning Vettel's pass on Vergne in Brazil - read the whole thing here if you like).

You can claim Ferrari get preferential treatment if you like but you can bet Bernie won't be handing them any special favors for a while.