Quote from: dre1982 on Today at 01:56:18 PM

It's not that hard to understand.

Nice diagram, but in this context very misleading. Of course I understand the point about who has the racing line... and I understand why Hamilton got the penalty: the application of an 'ideal world' textbook definition to a messy real-world situation. But that example has an attacker sneaking in at the last minute and only their front wing level with the defender's wheel. I don't know if you intentionally snipped my quote after the word 'slightly', but clearly in this instance the situation was different, they'd been racing side by side since the start. It wasn't an attacker diving inside dangerously at the last minute at all. Here's a screengrab of the cars as they enter the corner:

Hamilton is slightly behind. The cars are practically neck-and-neck... and to give it more context, Hamilton had the slipstream all the way down the long straight, he was gaining rapidly... if he'd been a few inches further forward, then he would have had the racing line. It's fine margins, and certainly not an outrageous manouevre by Hamilton.
Verstappen saw him, and cut in, trying to force Hamilton off the track. Verstappen is and always has been a dangerous driver, and this time he put himself in hospital. I'll ask again: if it was Hamilton on the outside with a 33 point championship lead, and Verstappen on the inside, then would there have been a crash? Of course not; Hamilton would have given the position.

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And if that's not enough... we don't even need to treat 'Hamilton on the outside' as a thought experiment, when there is video footage available. Not trying to start an argument, but there are some really short memories here! Literally 20 seconds before the crash, what happened? Well, have a look at the image below. Verstappen behind, going up the inside of Hamilton at a corner. And what happens? Hamilton, in the lead, gives him space and lets him have the position.

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