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Where did they publish this data at the time of the accident? I know they revealed it after the race, but I am talking about the half-second after the contact when everyone jumped to the conclusion that Hamilton did no wrong and that Vettel deliberately hit him.
And they also saw him gesticulate at Hamilton. It was obvious that his intent was to show his anger, but where is the evidence that he deliberately hit Hamilton? Like I said at the time, the on-board footage shows him with one hand off the steering wheel and clearly looking across at Hamilton. It seems far more likely that he lost sight of what he was doing in a moment of anger than the suggestion that he deliberately hit Hamilton in a move that could have easily ended his race. We know Vettel has a habit of forgetting himself when incensed - case in point, his radio message to Charlie Whiting in Mexico last year. Judging by his reaction to the penalty, we could even go so far as to infer that he was so angry that he didn't even realise that he had made contact.
By that logic, Hamilton isn't fit to drive either. Whether Vettel's contact was accidental or deliberate is open to debate, but Hamilton's positioning before the initial contact was definitely deliberate. After all, he had already been told by the team that his first restart was marginal. He was probably slowing down sooner to avoid coming under scrutiny. On top of that, he was the de facto safety car, so it was his responsibility to ensure that the restart was clean. He was also trying to back the field up to leave Vettel exposed to the cars behind, since the nature of the circuit means you're vulnerable down the main straight. Do you honestly expect anyone to believe that when devoid of emotion, Hamilton had no idea where Vettel was and so their contact was a complete accident, but in a moment of anger Vettel knew exactly where Hamilton was and deliberately hit him?
Seems to be some reading comprehension issues in this thread.
As my quote from the stewards shows, Hamilton wasn't 'playing silly buggers'. If you think Matsu****a has been wronged I suggest you take it up with the relevant authorities.
Why does Palmer deserve to be treated any differently to a driver in his position? He is a glorified pay driver who in twenty-eight starts has made a series of amateur mistakes and has regularly and consistently been beaten by his team-mates. He had a rough weekend in Baku which was not his fault, but on the whole, he has under-performed. Any driver in his position would deserve the criticism he has received, so why not Palmer?
Do you know who else won the title in their fourth season? Davide Valsecchi, Fabio Leimer and Pastor Maldonado. And where are they now? One is a Formula 2 commentator, one has apparently fallen off the planet, and one is the laughing stock of the motorsport community.
Hopefully this weekend marks a turn-around. He might have benefited from the nonsense around him, but that just means that he kept his head.
Show me the absolute proof that he did it deliberately. From where I am sitting, all you can do is prove that he hit Hamilton. If you have that proof, I'll happily hear it, but until such time as you do, let me ask you this: why did the stewards only penalise Vettel for dangerous driving? They could have handed out a much harsher penalty for deliberate contact, but they didn't.
The footage played in by FOM clearly showed Hamilton braking coming out of turn 15, maybe their telemetry is inaccurate but he certainly didn't accelerate coming out of the turn, it was stupid driving from Hamilton because his car has such a pace advantage on the final sector that a normal restart would've not had anybody threaten him, he didn't need to be causing collisions.
The guy is a 4 x WDC and one of the best drivers in the world who manages to drive his car at it's limit for lap after lap without making mistakes. He was travelling at very low speed, there is no way on this earth that a driver of his ability would accidentally run into another at that speed unless he was unforgivably careless or he meant it. Either is unforgivable and he should have been dealt with accordingly.
I think you underestimate the animosity towards Palmer that is being displayed in the less civilized corners of the internet. He is blamed for everything, including his Monaco spin, and is treated a lot worse than other drivers of his 'caliber' - i.e. Nasr, Ericsson, Merhi. I feel that he has the Chilton-Stroll problem in that he is directly related to the 'money' and people tend to be less civil in those cases.
If it was stupid driving by Hamilton the stewards, and the plethora of extra data they have compared to us armchair experts, would have punished him. They didn't.
Reinforce away!
Until the stewards release their telemetry all we have to go by is what FOM have already shared:
You're the one making the accusation. The burden of responsibility rests with you.
I don't think that vast majority of the board would disagree with me when I say that it's a serious accusation and that it needs to be substantiated with more than conjecture. You claim that my opinion is coloured by my bias against Hamilton, yet going by the vehemence with which you attack Vettel, it's fairly clear that you yourself are biased.
I haven't attacked Vettel at all. He either through incompetence (for a driver of his ability) or by deliberate act made contact with Hamilton's car. That is deserving of a sanction. He got one. Get over it.
