okay final thoughts on the collision because I've had time to think it over properly now
the contact itself was caused by max
they both had to be driving aggressively (=racing) for it to happen
stirring personal drama and/or refusing to admit to fault is ridiculous (and I'm including the media in this)
I. max moves off the racing line to block lando from taking the inside line
this move makes sense, max is trying to prevent an overtake
it also means that he's left the racing line open
II. lando takes the outside line in turn
it's important to consider WHY he does this here, lando at this point has 2 options
option 1 -> follow behind max on the inside
this option makes no sense, no sensible racing driver would willingly file behind their opponent, that would be handing max the lead here, lando isn't about to roll over
option 2 -> stay on the outside
with this he wouldn't neccessarily be able to overtake max, but he can keep the pace
natually lando went with the 2nd option. from then on (if max had kept the inside line, which was a sensible assumption to make considering their positions) I can imagine this going 2 ways
-> lando keeps off the breaks and runs wide
he likely would not have made this mistake
-> lando takes the outside line, untimately stays behind or wheel-to-wheel with max
this creates an opportunity for an overtake later on
with those possibilites in mind all lando has to do is: not fuck it up
he IS absolutely taking a risk here, but again, to run a good race you HAVE to take those risks, you HAVE to see the opportunities that are presented to you and HAVE to atleast try taking them. otherwise why race?
III. max takes an usual line instead of staying on the inside
this is the direct cause of the collision
generally speaking when you take a line you're expected to stay on it
max here is driving almost erratically, he veers off the line he was taking a moment ago, even moving after he started breaking into the turn. this is almost completely illogical
it does NOT line up with what lando would have been expecting, if max had seen that lando was already at his side I highly doubt he would have drove off his line, but appearantly that wasn't the case
you could excuse this by saying that max just didn't see lando at this point (which I think might be true, though we can't know that for sure without a statement from him) but you have to consider just how WEIRD this move is
max blocked lando from taking the inside line - which leaves lando the outside - and then tried going back on the racing line - which lando already took (logically so)
this leaves lando to either run himself off the track to prevent the collision, or to not move at all. I think it would be within reason to assume lando could not have predicted max basically driving into him instead of staying on his line and (even more importantly) leaving lando the space
max basically set them on the collision course, yes lando took a risk by the outside as quickly as he did, but not doing so would have left him out of the battle. the contact required both drivers to make risky decisions in the heat of the moment. but ultimately it was max who caused the incident, putting lando out of the race entirely
I also went over the other overtakes/attempts in my previous analysis
about their statements post-race
I've actually changed my mind (a bit) about this since yesterday
first of all, lando's statements are getting MASSIVELY exaggerated by the media and fans, often being paraphrased to implying he'd end his friendship with max outright
he did not say that. what he DID say was
"depends what he says. if he says he did nothing wrong then I lose a lot of respect for that. if he admits to being a bit stupid and running into me - being a little reckless in a way - then I'd have a small amount of respect for him."
even though the interviewer included the term "friendship" in their original question, lando wasn't talking about that
I'd also like to point out (and this is the most important bit IMO) that interviewers and the media in general try to stir up drama and conflict, partially through getting reactions out of the drivers, on purpose.
don't ever forget that they put these interviews right after races, when the tensions are still high and they haven't had a real opportunity to debrief yet. after getting his race ended (a race he could have WON, regardless of whether he was driving fair or reckless before) obviously he's going to be a bit pissed about it. I think he gave a relatively fair statement
I don't think conflating friendship with their on-track rivalry is particularly healthy (I don't think I have to elaborate on why we've all seen alpine) but that's obviously not my (or anyone's) place to say whether either lando or max is handling their interpersonal relationships right
as for max's denial of responsibility, I think he's just plain wrong. but again, he was interviewed at a time when he would have still been emotional (though this shows up differently for him than it does for lando, which is why people have such varying reactions to it) for max that means he's not yet thinking completely rationally, every driver denies their fault at first
KEEP IN MIND that this is all just my opinion and I am by no means a mind reader. and that I very likely missed some things or interpreted them in a way that was comfortable for me despite trying my best to stay unbiased.
areudirty
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