Niki Lauda blames Vettel for Singapore crash
- Published on 19 Sep 2017 14:09
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- By: Rob Veenstra
Niki Lauda has joined scores of fans and insiders who blame Sebastian Vettel for putting his championship hopes in tatters in Singapore. On Twitter, the Maranello team lashed out at Max Verstappen for Sunday's first corner crash, while boss Maurizio Arrivabene said it was "clearly" the Red Bull driver's fault.
But Lauda, the F1 legend and Mercedes team chairman, told Osterreich newspaper: "It was clearly Sebastian's fault. I don't know why he would risk so much at this important stage of the world championship." He also told La Gazzetta dello Sport: "If that had happened in my time, we would have walked back to Maranello."
Why German Vettel was not punished by the stewards for causing the crash, meanwhile, is another matter. Jos Verstappen, Max's father, told motorsport-magazin.com he sensed a "political" reason. "If they (the FIA) gave him a real punishment, the championship would be over," he said.
And the Spanish newspaper Marca quoted Mark Webber as saying the stewards not punishing Vettel was "a joke". "I think sometimes Seb forgets where the back of his car is," said Vettel's former Red Bull teammate.
But it could get worse for Vettel anyway. La Repubblica newspaper reports that the German's engine may have been damaged in the crash. "The one used in Singapore was number 3 for the season. If it cannot be recovered, Vettel may take penalties later in the season," the reporter noted. (GMM)
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Replies (14)
Login to replykngrthr
Posts: 203
two drivers took decisions to go in a particular direction. neither decision was wrong , it just happened that one of the squares on the chessboard was about to be occupied unexpectedly by kimi.
again not his fault for getting an awesome start.
what seb and max did would have been fine on any other day. the pieces just didn't fit this time.
it's done. next race please.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Agree with you on this one.
f1ski
Posts: 726
Agree completely Hamilton does this all the time.
denis1304
Posts: 284
Sebastian did not have contact with Max
reg
Posts: 162
Quite!!!
reg
Posts: 162
Well Lauda is as usual playing mind games, and Webber is just plain jealous of Seb and always has been!
Major Tom
Posts: 152
Having looked at the film coverage again I think Kimi might have been most to blame. It was he who turned into Verstaffen and first caused contact. Had he continued straight he could have avoided contact - or at least until until the corner. Vettel however clearly managed to avoid contact with with Max - no matter how risky the manoeuvre was.
mbmwe36
Posts: 533
I haven't seen Kimi's onboard, but from the other angles it looks like he's keeping his lane, so to speak.
When Kimi has passed him, then Verstappen turns into him, instead of lifting a little bit.
Squirrel10
Posts: 36
Ferrari blame MV, Red Bull blame SV, Mercedes should keep out of it. From the numerous replays and various angles, MV clipped the back of KR, setting off the chain reaction. Over ambition or inexperience, who knows, but Seb was not at fault on this one.
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
Agreed. MV could use some experience.
DutchTreath
Posts: 5,058
Disagree with you both. Vettel is the experience driver and should know what could happen in the wet. He is the one who is fighting with with Hamilton for the world championship. Max is no problem at all for him. So why that stupid mindset ting again from him. Everybody in here was speaking over Max his crash with Massa. Every one was telling in here that Max should have more patience. Why don't I hear the same over Vettel? strange birds are you guys.
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
Main root cause for the crash: Nobody expected Kimi to have a great start to the race.
f1ski
Posts: 726
just watch video on f1.com and on my dvr. If you just watch Raikkonen and Verstappen Max moves one as Kimi is passing just enough for the wheels to overlap and the rest is history. Vettel is ahead all the way. Vettel mistake is to play chicken with Verstappen.
Barron
Posts: 625
Well what a pigs breakfast. To say it's 100% Vettels fault is disengenuous. I don't believe Vettel even knew Raikkonen was there. At the point of the first collision (Max & Kimi) Vettel is a metre away to the right and ahead. To my mind, it's Max the Human Torpedo at his best.