S12 R07 Italy Grand Prix - Incidents

- Lap 6, T4 (on the map above - actually T6 - First Lesmos) - Gustavo Montenegro & Gatis Stalsans (contact + driver sent off the track + front wing loss)

I had a slow exit from the 2nd chicane, due to a mistake. Then Gatis gained some speed on me and reduced the gap.

When we reach the very beginning of the corner, I'm still a 100% in front of him - there's no parts of our cars side by side at all - and I had the best line for the corner, on the outside.

I start to turn in, slowly, leaving him space and also trying to show him that if he insists on a move there, it will end badly for one, or both of us - hoping he would back up, since that's not an ideal spot for overtaking and I had the best line and a 100% of the car ahead.

But sadly, he insists on the move and the obvious happen: he hits me, sends me off the track, I hit the wall, lose my front wing, am forced to make an unscheduled pit stop and lose tons of time - and since it was only lap 6, even filling up the whole tank wasn't enough for the fuel to take me to the end of the race - so I had to make an extra pit stop a few laps later, for the fuel - and that completely destroyed my race and took away some very important championship points for me and especially for my team, which is fighting point by point against Ferrari..

So, that small incident (caused by lack of patience or poor judgement) costed me a lot.

I'm honestly not worried in getting Gatis a penalty or not - that's really not the point here (although I think he obviously deserves one, of course)..
What worries me is that some drivers are still insisting on unwise moves, on bad spots of the track and moments of the race - it's not the first time it happens with Gatis, specifically, but there's also other people doing similar stuff - so I'd like for everyone to be a bit more careful about situations like these and how seriously they can screw up someone else's races.

Once again I say: It's ok to be aggressive and it's a men's car racing after all, so it's all good.

BUT...

Still that doesn't mean we should act like dumb drivers, who can't think properly and 'need' to 'prove' we are more 'machos' than the next guy...

We CAN be aggressive and be careful at the same time!
We CAN be aggressive and be smart/intelligent at the same time!
We CAN be aggressive and NOT screw up other people's races!
We CAN be aggressive and have LOTS of FUN!

So, jah.. let's try to become better drivers - and that doesn't mean just becoming faster on track...

...

Here are my own replay files, free from lag, at least on my part, to see exactly what I saw on my screen:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/ujposwjgjupkj4o

I admit that I'm partly at fault at this accident, but as Arek and Peter showed you can leave some space at first lesmo and both drivers can exit it without crashing. You don't have to completely close the door.

You're right and I never said it wasn't possible to take that corner side by side, or to overtake there.

But in our case - as you can clearly see on my replay - I had a 100% of the car in front.
Which means I DON'T 'have' to leave 'side space' for you, since we were NOT taking the corner side by side in any ways (partially or completely) - if we were, I'd have left space, of course.

And still I DO leave space anyway at the very beginning, trying to show you that you should NOT insist on the move - but you didn't understand that it wasn't wise to insist and then you insisted and... shit happened.

So, once again I say: it was pure poor judgement from you and lack of patience - an unwise move, on a bad spot and unnecessary moment of the race, since it was only lap 6 (21 more to go) and we've been fighting for the previous 3 laps - where I was completely patient to make my move, carefully waiting for a good spot/moment, never forcing anything stupid against you, or putting you at any danger - and when it was your turn to do the same to me.. you just screwed it up badly..

Anyways.. as I said.. I'm not worried in 'pointing who's to blame' or simply getting you a penalty.
I'm more worried in making you and the other drivers understand HOW exactly we should drive in those situations and still have aggressive and amazing fights, withOUT screwing up each other's races - THAT'S all I want, so incidents (and big prejudices) like these, won't happen again (hopefully)..

I hate this track with a passion. You can never get a good exit out of the chicane

That's not an actual protest (as we already talked about it and Juris has apologized), but please guys ... just be more careful. You're not the only ones on track - there are others, too. Just a little bit of respect.

Now the situation: It was Qualifying and I had been caught up in traffic an had to do another run. I exited the pits and was on the fastlane. Juris came out of his garage, drove right into my way to forced me to avoid him. When I braked for the first chicane I was suddenly brutally hit from behind. Once again it was Juris, who didn't even consider braking for the corner and slammed into me with more than 300 kph. And sorry, but that's everything, but no mindful driving :/ I had to ESC and then there was only time for one single timed lap - and as you may know - the first timed lap on a quali-stint is most rarely the quickest.

So, as I said - no protest here, as we've already had a little chat about it. But please, please, please  - just be a bit more considerate with the guys around you. In all those situations possible. In compromising another ones race or quali (or whatever) you won't do yourself any favours. And if you're the one who hits another car from behind you'll always be the one to blame - it's the same for driving real cars on real streets.

Cya at the Elkhart-lake. And don't forget those swimming trunks and stuff. We should have a nice little barbecue there - and wash away those monza-shit with some cold beer

It's not a protest, more like a suggestiosn. I think that when we are on out laps in qualy, people should let other driver go if we know that he is clearly faster (for ex. I would let Antonio through), because a driver either gets stuck and loses time on his timed lap or has to risk an overtake on out lap which can end in tears for both of the drivers.