Schumacher Critical of Mercedes for Dragging Hamilton-Verstappen F1 Incident

With the drama from the Brazilian GP continuing, there has been a lot to keep up with, and now it continues. Mercedes has requested a review of the Turn 4 incident between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, in the light of the recent evidence released. However, fans and the F1 community alike have been highly critical of this move.

To summarize, Verstappen was let off easy for pushing Hamilton wide in lap 48; thus deserving a 5-second penalty. However, the stewards didn’t have footage of the Red Bull‘s front camera and could not make a fully informed decision. As of yesterday, F1 released this footage. And now, two days after the race, Mercedes has asked for a review.

This begs the question, what will happen now? What could the FIA possibly do to penalize Verstappen fairly, if the review sides with Mercedes? Further, will the punishment, if any, satisfy Mercedes’ expectations. Overall, the need for a review seems unnecessary as Hamilton won the race- and as a result, the initial hearing didn’t hamper his championship run.

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Ralf Schumacher seems to be of a similar opinion. Although understanding the Brackley team’s point of view, he argues that maybe the situation is best left in the past. “Somehow understandable, but it’s a shame that it continues like this.”

Schumacher added, “Racing without all this background noise would be nicer. This of course applies to both sides!” 

Would F1 be better without the ‘background noise’?

Although the championship battle in itself has been immensely entertaining this year, it wouldn’t quite be the same without the drama surrounding it. Sure, it gets out of hand sometimes, but it only fuels the intensity of the war at hand.

From Christian Horner and Toto Wolff throwing jabs at each other and the protagonists themselves with their nuanced comments; even the social media posts!- everything adds to the theatrics of the sport. Though necessary, this background noise that Schumacher describes has the potential to be overbearing as well.

With the Turn 4 incident, for example, at first glance, it looks like plain aggressive racing. However, some also argued that it was similar to Norris and Perez’s incident in Austria this year. Although important, the new footage did little to bring closure to the situation. The argument continues, did Verstappen do too much, or is it just the nature of the sport?

However, Formula 1 isn’t that unequivocal, is it? The decision made during the race had to be the right one, and with what they had in their hands, the stewards made their decision. Although Mercedes believes the new footage is game-changing enough for a review, what can we expect from the FIA now, and what does that say about the decision-making process?

There is so much left unanswered, including the question: is this necessary? And as in F1, there is no real right answer. All one can do now is wait for the review and the consequences of the ruling; hoping, that the actions of the race in Brazil don’t overshadow the thrill Qatar promises.

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