2016 Mexican Grand Prix Thread

[Ataxia]

d'awwwwwww

[Bobby Doorknobs]

"We're very high here" - Ben Edwards at the end of FP1

[Rob Dylan]

"We're very high here" - Ben Edwards at the end of FP1

It's gonna be one of those races, is it...

[dr-baker]

Vettel: "Are we safe? Can I go for a wee?"

[Waris]

First, tell us about Nico.

Lewis was perfect...

Lol.

[Rob Dylan]

The opportunity was there. The opportunity was right there, and all Nico had to do was choke, but he didn't
On the basis that Nico didn't choke, I'm actually starting to believe he could win this championship

[Bobby Doorknobs]

The opportunity was there. The opportunity was right there, and all Nico had to do was choke, but he didn't
On the basis that Nico didn't choke, I'm actually starting to believe he could win this championship

All the more impressive given the high altitude...

[mario]

The opportunity was there. The opportunity was right there, and all Nico had to do was choke, but he didn't
On the basis that Nico didn't choke, I'm actually starting to believe he could win this championship

He could still cock it up in the race when it actually matters (a duff start and he could find himself shuffled quite far back into the pack off the line).

[Psyclepath]

The opportunity was there. The opportunity was right there, and all Nico had to do was choke, but he didn't
On the basis that Nico didn't choke, I'm actually starting to believe he could win this championship

He could still cock it up in the race when it actually matters (a duff start and he could find himself shuffled quite far back into the pack off the line).

Calling it now, Hamilton will do exactly that.

[DemocalypseNow]

The opportunity was there. The opportunity was right there, and all Nico had to do was choke, but he didn't
On the basis that Nico didn't choke, I'm actually starting to believe he could win this championship

He could still cock it up in the race when it actually matters (a duff start and he could find himself shuffled quite far back into the pack off the line).

Calling it now, Hamilton will do exactly that.

On an unrelated subject, that is a fantastic username.

[This Could Be You]

Is it just me or was the Mexican national anthem horribly, horribly out of tune. An early ROTR mention maybe.

[Paul Hayes]

Really looking forward to this one!

C'mon Rosberg!

[Psyclepath]

Haha, Vettel "He's slowing himself down!"

[AdrianBelmonte_]

Is it just me or was the Mexican national anthem horribly, horribly out of tune. An early ROTR mention maybe.

Mexican Jemini there...

[Henrique]

I thought Vettel was gonna show him the middle finger.

[Paul Hayes]

A shame Hamilton won, but Rosberg did what he needed to.

That was a quick penalty for Verstappen - hopefully it will calm Vettel down a bit!

[rachel1990]

Verstappen might get kicked off the podium.. and he has!!

[sswishbone]

Vettel may have got on the podium but his conduct has been awful today, I think he should have some severe action for pretty much telling the stewards to take a jump is unacceptable, plus why did Charlie say you have to race him and then Verstappen get a penalty? Overall total farce of an ending.

[WeirdKerr]

Vettel telling Charlie to bathplug off over the radio should be a slamdunk for bringing the sport into disrepute

[johnston21]

F1's DOTD was announced by BBC Radio as being Max (not that it would have been my choice), but seems to have mysteriously changed to Vettel.

So much for this being a fan's choice, especially with it lately being chosen before the race is over.

[Londoner]

The last ten minutes of the race and the post-race action more than made up for the tedious nature of the grand prix. Verstappen is nicely settling down into his new role as the official Formula One troll.

The Sauber pitwall must have been having palpitations seeing Hulk spin and the fracas between Vettel and the Red Bulls. Alas, it's only an 11th for Ericsson, and Manor can breathe easy for another couple of weeks.

[mario]

A shame Hamilton won, but Rosberg did what he needed to.

That was a quick penalty for Verstappen - hopefully it will calm Vettel down a bit!

I wonder if Rosberg really is that bothered about winning now - he knows that all he needs to do is to finish 2nd in every race, something he should be able to do very easily given the inherent performance advantage of the car, and he wins the title.

Vettel may have got on the podium but his conduct has been awful today, I think he should have some severe action for pretty much telling the stewards to take a jump is unacceptable, plus why did Charlie say you have to race him and then Verstappen get a penalty? Overall total farce of an ending.

Did Whiting say that? I heard Arrivabene start to talk to Vettel, but Vettel cut him off when all he'd said was "Charile says".

I'm not surprised that Vettel was furious in the circumstances - firstly he'd seen Verstappen get away with a move that he saw as completely unfair, then he has Ricciardo banging into the back of him (and I do think that he was right about Verstappen backing him up into Ricciardo).

I agree that his response to the stewards was pretty over the line though, especially by telling Whiting, as Woody Allan once put it, to go forth and multiply, but in slightly fewer words. His apology on the podium might have taken some heat out of it, but I wouldn't be surprised if somebody has a word with him behind the scenes to calm him down.

I do have a little sympathy for Vettel though, as ultimately I do think that what Verstappen did deserved a penalty (as I do feel that Verstappen did take advantage of being able to cut across the corner to hold onto his position).

[DemocalypseNow]

Vettel telling Charlie to bathplug off over the radio should be a slamdunk for bringing the sport into disrepute

That regulation only applies to teams, rather than individuals.

[WeirdKerr]

Vettel telling Charlie to bathplug off over the radio should be a slamdunk for bringing the sport into disrepute

That regulation only applies to teams, rather than individuals.

I seem to remember the FIA tried to charge Senna with it following Japan '93 following his punch up with Irvine

[Meatwad]

Vettel telling Charlie to bathplug off over the radio should be a slamdunk for bringing the sport into disrepute

That regulation only applies to teams, rather than individuals.

I seem to remember the FIA tried to charge Senna with it following Japan '93 following his punch up with Irvine

Todt claimed Hamilton could have been given a six-race ban for his comments in Monaco 2011 ("Maybe it's because I'm black").

[andrew]

The verstappen Vettel incident was not the same as the Verstappen Rosberg incident. Rosberg was forced across the chicane by Max, he was hit and had no choice (Verstappen barely made it round) plus Rosberg made an effort to rejoin the track unlike Verstappen and Hamilton

[Aguaman]

Vettel telling Charlie to bathplug off over the radio should be a slamdunk for bringing the sport into disrepute

That regulation only applies to teams, rather than individuals.

I seem to remember the FIA tried to charge Senna with it following Japan '93 following his punch up with Irvine

Punching another driver seems a lot worse than Seb telling Charlie to f off.

[mario]

The verstappen Vettel incident was not the same as the Verstappen Rosberg incident. Rosberg was forced across the chicane by Max, he was hit and had no choice (Verstappen barely made it round) plus Rosberg made an effort to rejoin the track unlike Verstappen and Hamilton

Verstappen has stated that Rosberg should have been penalised for cutting the track after he clipped him at the start, claiming that he also gained an advantage by cutting the track. Meanwhile, Rosberg has been defending Hamilton by saying that he doesn't think that Hamilton gained a lasting advantage at the start.

Vettel telling Charlie to bathplug off over the radio should be a slamdunk for bringing the sport into disrepute

That regulation only applies to teams, rather than individuals.

I seem to remember the FIA tried to charge Senna with it following Japan '93 following his punch up with Irvine

Punching another driver seems a lot worse than Seb telling Charlie to f off.

I agree that it is one thing to just verbally attack somebody and another to physically attack them, so I can see why they would have considered taking harsher action against Senna.

That said, it now looks as if the stewards have perhaps taken their revenge on Vettel for that outburst by handing him a 10 second penalty for what they termed “an abnormal change of direction” whilst defending against Ricciardo. The end result is that Ricciardo is now moved up onto the podium, with Vettel being demoted back behind Verstappen and down into 5th place.

[Barbazza]

What a bloody farce that is, then!
I must admit that I woke up this morning thinking 'I wonder what retrospective penalties will have been applied?'

Obviously Seb's language, while amusing the hell out of me, does not look great for the sport but for me he did absolutely nothing wrong with his driving while Max was - again - driving like a dick. It makes me wish for a return of that briefly fashionable period in 1994 where drivers were getting banned from races left, right and centre.

Sky F1's coverage was again risible as the entire team disappeared up Horner's backside - so much so that their other best friends at Mercedes barely got a look in!

At the moment I am thinking once again of either just watching the C4 coverage or not bothering at all next year.

[CoopsII]

I don't get the grief about Vettels language. I didn't hear him swear, did you? I know he did but I'm also sure that the people getting all huffy about it not only use the same language but wouldn't alert the church elders if similar language appeared in a movie or TV show they were watching.

[dr-baker]

I don't get the grief about Vettels language. I didn't hear him swear, did you? I know he did but I'm also sure that the people getting all huffy about it not only use the same language but wouldn't alert the church elders if similar language appeared in a movie or TV show they were watching.

I have actually discussed swearing on TV with members of the local Parochial Church Council (PCC) and church wardens before, but I don't get huffy about Vettel using it the way he did because the heat of the moment/frustration/etc.

[Aguaman]

Are people actually getting huffity over an athlete swearing while in their race?

Everyone in every sport swears and it didn't seem like he said anything offensive to bring the sport into distribute. Feel like it is more that people dislike Seb. If it was Dan or Jenson it would be a different story. If it was Nasr, not one thing would be heard on TV.

[CoopsII]

Are people actually getting huffity over an athlete swearing while in their race?

This particular athlete anyway. If it had been Raikkonen someone would've probably printed what he said onto a T-shirt and everyone would've chuckled at how funny and boistrous he was being. If it had been Alonso it would've sent dozens of hacks into meltdown about him being in touch with his inner Samurai. If it had been Verstappen then his Mum would've grounded him from going Trick Or Treating tonight.

[AustralianStig]

Are people actually getting huffity over an athlete swearing while in their race?.

Not so much the swearing (although I've never liked profanity), it's the disrespect to the referee, so to speak. In nearly every sport, the referee/umpire is to be respected. In football (soccer) for example, while swearing is technically only a yellow card offence (that is rarely enforced anyway), if you went and called the referee a bathplugging cheat, it would be a red card offence, and I've seen that enforced at all levels.