Formula 1 Spa-Francorchamps 2012 Crash Re-Analysis
03:50:00 |
| Carbon fibre galore |
Earlier this year, in the Belgian Formula 1 Grand Prix, there was a catastrophic first corner pile up, and Grosjean, Hamilton, Alonso, and Perez were caught out in the whirlwind of carbon fibre. The blame was promptly put on Grosjean for being too aggressive at the start, and to some extent that is true. But looking at the race footage, I don't think Grosjean was the sole perpetrator. I downloaded the race edit, and saw the video frame by frame, and I think some of the blame can be put on Hamilton's shoulders as well.
Hamilton qualified P8, and Grosjean P9. But Grosjean had a very good start, and Grosjean was almost a full car length ahead of Hamilton before La Source.
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| Red Circle: Hamilton; Blue Circle: Grosjean |
Grosjean gets a good start, and heads towards clear tarmac ahead of Hamilton, as the track ahead of him is blocked by the Saubers and the Williams of Maldonado.
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| Grosjean and Hamilton fighting for the same piece of tarmac |
So Grosjean goes for the clear track ahead of Hamilton, and this where the massive pile up started.
The stewards blamed Grosjean for being too aggressive at the start and colliding into Hamilton. This is slightly true as Grosjean gives Hamilton almost no space and squeezes him into the barrier separating the track from the pits. And this is also the point where Hamilton should be blamed for the accident which takes place just seconds from this picture.
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| Here you can see Grosjeans racing line blocked by the slowing Saubers behind the Ferrari, and now approaching toward the clear track ahead of Hamilton. |
At this point, Hamilton still has a chance to retain track position and try to pull ahead of Grosjean. But he should have know that he only had a small chance.
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| Just moments before the havoc starts. |
Grosjean now has a 3/4 car length advantage over Hamilton, and has, according to me gained the track position and is perfectly justified to expect Hamilton, which he should have done. Hamilton can clearly see that he has no space left, and should've lifted off and conceded track position. But he put his foot hard down, which wasn't the smartest thing to do, but even stupider on his part was holding his racing line. A collision was bound to take place.
But Hamilton wasn't really in an ideal state anyway, having posted telemetry of his lap on Twitter!
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| Detailed as well.... |
And now as you'll see, all hell breaks loose.
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| BAM! and it's all over. |
I really don't see why Grosjean alone is blamed for the mess. Hamilton had quite a large role to play in this pile up.
Also, Jenson Button has the best victory dance which he performed in his car itself. The man got style.
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| Now that, is how it should be done. |
That is a superb way to celebrate.
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