Penalties

[Mephistopheles]

The reason I feel it was worse is precisely because it was a slow squeeze if someone swerves in front of you you instinctively take avoiding action what Schumacher did was guide Rubens to a point that he wouldn't have necessarily known he was in danger until it was too late to take any action other than pray he comes out of it unharmed....

In essence Rubens simply would not have known that Schumacher would just keep on coming, and Schumacher was fully aware of what he was doing...

 

[Incubus]

Yep, sums it up pretty well.

 

[Dario Resta]

Sorry, Rubens is a professional and extremely experienced driver. Schumacher wanted him to go left and made his intentions pretty clear, and he chose to take the tow and follow Schumacher. He had the choice to back off and go left. Schumacher never left the track at any point and didn't make any sudden chopping moves. Rubens had balls of steel, I'll give him that, but he should have known the gap was decreasing. It was a continuous move that Schumacher made. If someone slowly squeezes me on the M25 I'll have a much better chance of avoiding a crash than some idiot swerving across in front of me suddenly. Of course Schumacher knew what he was doing. Defending the inside and forcing Rubens to take the long way round.

 

[Incubus]

Oh yes. Rubens should have known Michael, whom he was already alongside of, would squeeze him out of track, over the white line marking track limits, break the one car's width rule, and get a grid-drop penalty for the next race. How careless of Rubens.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Well Dario Resta I'm guessing we will have to agree to disagree, I have been squeezed by lorries on the motorways and I have been extremely frightened by it as it is unexpected and even at those low speeds it takes several seconds to react whilst you way up your options including what would happen if you suddenly brake as there may be cars behind you.

Of course Rubens would have far better reactions than me but then again he would be doing the thick end of 200 miles per hours at the point when the concrete wall was looming large, not really the time to be playing russian roulette with a drivers life.

I honestly believe that if Rubens had hit the wall at that speed and considering the proximity of Michael's car and it was near the end of the wall it would have been fatal for one or both of the drivers,

In short Schumacher was a bloody idiot...

Rubens said after the race that Michael had tried to kill him, and do you know what I think he had a point....

 

[Dario Resta]

Going back to my original point. How is this different to what Nico did on 3 occasions in Bahrain, or what happened between Webber & Massa at Fuji (I think)? Rubens wasn't even close to being alongside until he was partially off the track. Are you saying he had no choice in which way to go? Schumacher started going right a long way up the straight. Rubens could just have gone left.

 

[Dario Resta]

It's not as frightening as a sudden swerve. At least you have a chance to react. A sudden violent move would result in a certain accident. Do you brake quicker if someone drifts across or if they swerve violently across your path. I know which would get my attention quicker.
I think the photo I attached in my previous post shows that Rubens had the choice of backing off and chose not to in order to make the pass and not lose momentum. Fair play to him for keeping his foot in, but like Webber and Alonso at Eau Rouge last year it could have ended up being nasty. To say Schumacher tried to kill him is a bit melodramatic to say the least!

 

[Mephistopheles]

Like I said we disagree your not going to change my mind and I'm not going to change yours so c'est la vié as they say..

 

[Dario Resta]

Indeed, nothing wrong with disagreement. Fair enough!

 

[Mephistopheles]

Absolutely nothing at all