Ross Brawn has an advise Lewis Hamilton’s comments regarding ‘universe against me’ as he defends the use of asphalt run-off plus more.
It is not unusual for Mercedes’ Hamilton to be slightly philosophical when he is handed out a penalty. It is more often that he vents his frustration openly and it was evident in F1 Russian GP at Sochi as well after the double he got for practice start violation.
Initially, he also had two penalty points on his superlicense but it was scrubbed off, not before that Hamilton had already spoken his mind. He has had multiple penalties already this year, the last one being at Monza when he pitted when pitlane was closed.
Additionally, with engine modes push, the call from Mercedes camp was clear that attempts has been made to slow them down – something common when certain F1 outfits have a dominant run. This is what Hamilton alluded to again in Russia.
Brawn, who has had an experience handling Hamilton, felt the Brit should take positives from such incidents and shouldn’t push towards thinking that ‘everyone is against you’ mode. “Lewis has had some bad luck in the last few races, with the penalties in Monza and now Sochi,” he wrote in his column.
“Personally, I would go away, lick my wounds and think about how I could prevent such incidences again in the future. That’s what I know the team will be doing. I know many of the people, from my time at the team, and they will recognise they have made some mistakes. Bad luck and mistakes happen, it’s how you respond that matters.
“It’s easy to think the world is against you, but there is nearly always something you could have done differently and you can learn from.” Additionally, Brawn defended having asphalt run-offs after more dramas at Sochi, especially with the issues at Turn 2.
There were multiple incidents, not only in F1 but also in F2 and drivers weren’t very happy about it. Brawn felt that the FIA would look into the matter but stated that asphalt run-off is the best solution at the moment with track limits applied to punish the drivers.
“There were some contentious parts of the circuit this weekend, and I know the FIA are very objective and constructive in how they view these things,” wrote Brawn. “I’m sure they will be taking a look at the incidents in Turn 2 to see if there is a better solution.
“There is a constant battle to stop drivers abusing track limits. You don’t abuse track limits if you end up in the gravel. They do if it’s asphalt. But if you have gravel everywhere, it gets thrown on the track and you lose cars if they go off, which we don’t want to do.
So you are damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Predominantly, asphalt is the better solution, but we have to have track limits to make sure drivers don’t abuse asphalt run-off. If you go into a corner knowing the worst thing that will happen is you’re run over asphalt and re-join, you will commit more to the corner.
“I’m sure the FIA and FIA F1 Race Michael Masi will look at Turn 2 to see if there is a better solution.” Elsewhere, Brawn credited Valtteri Bottas for showing his strength and finally catching a break as he welcomed Stefano Domenicali and praised Chase Carey’s work.
He also spoke about Renault’s consistent performance and the growth of Mick Schumacher as he inches closer to the F2 title. To sum it up, Brawn praised Racing Point’s Sergio Perez’s work despite not having the upgrades and hoped that he gets to stay back in F1.
“This was another superb performance from Sergio Perez, who is going through his divorce proceedings with Racing Point,” wrote Brawn. “He is clearly still hurting after being let go, in favour of Sebastian Vettel, but that does not appear to be impacting his on track form.
“If anything, it’s motivating him. It was even more impressive given the lack of availability of the big upgrade which his team mate Lance Stroll is enjoying. To put in that kind performance in those circumstances shows why he deserves to stay in F1,” summed up Brawn.
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