GEORGE and the steering wheel toggling...by Peter Windsor
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- Опубликовано: 4 апр 2024
- He didn't mention it post-accident in Melbourne, but Mercedes' George Russell has now revealed that he was busy adjusting his steering wheel settings when Aston's Fernando Alonso was deciding to brake a little early for Turn 6 in Melbourne on the penultimate lap of the race. As a result, George failed to slow in concert with Fernando - or perhaps to move to the inside and force the advantage. Instead, when he looked up from the steering wheel switches, he suddenly found himself about to ram the green car. In this video, Peter Windsor talks about toggling the steering wheel taking precedence over the view of the road in front; about whether there's too much technology being offered to the drivers; and about the difference between George's statements in Melbourne and his reflections two weeks later.
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"Fernando got a penalty for confusing George"!!!! - so very true.
The maFIA needs to reopen this penalty. It sounds like George needs Alonso's penalty.
LOL 😂
That had me rofl
Question what race was you watching???? George Russell airhead fans
Some of them don’t know shhhhhh about racing 😡💯
He took his eye off the car in front
ALO was going 60 kmh slower in the exact same spot the lap before. Thats called being parked on the racing line in qualifying. So now drivers are supposed to expect 60 kmh head fakes at any given time. So now when a car is suddenly slowing , just gas it ! He's faking. Yeah. Ask Gilles Vinneneuve how good of an idea that is.
Max's reaction after hearing this in the press conference." We are gonna talk about this in the drivers briefing"
Oh how I wanted to be a fly on that wall.
I miss the days when they would broadcast the drivers meeting.
Max is going to let him have it.
@@stephenradley9798 yeees. Driver’s meeting is much more entertaining then the grid walk and all that pre-race sh*t. I wonder why they keep it a secret now?
He must have bitten his head off😂😂😂😂
“For confusing George!”, Peter you are the best.
Never seems to take much going all the way back to Williams. There's a reason why he finished behind Kubica in a season and took out Bottas at Imola, and binned it every other chance he ever looked like getting a result. The same trend came through last year and now continues through this season.
@@F1jones😂 He got 1 win and 19 top 5's in the zero pod. Destroying Hamilton. He won the F2 title in his rookie year in the strongest F2 field ever that produced 3 #1 drivers. But salt on Hamilton fan 😂
Russel has shown, on more than one occasion, that he has lapses in judgement that end up with him crashing. If Russel hadn't have binned it, apparently because he wasn't looking, nothing would or should have come of it. Heads up George. I suppose the wheel could be simplified, but it doesn't seem to be a regular problem for other drivers so it's up to the driver to adapt to the sport.
Usually at the end of a race when he is, presumably, tired.
Thank you sir. Exactly
With the complexity of the engines that will be running for 2026 regulations, i speculate that ain't gonna happen. These engines will be more complex. And I reckon they'll be introducing more tools to juggle between races, qualifying and practice
All these comments are from salty LH fans who hate George for beating their guy 😂
@@fintonmainz78456 years in F1 and he's only had a few crashes. But they all get hyped up by salty LH fans who hate George
Alonso should appeal and use the Russell interview as supporting information.
Definitely....very strange statement from Russell. Why didn't he say that at the time. He should actually receive the penalty instead now.
@@PippaMooreand why didn't the stewards notice this. I presume they would have looked at George's onboards...
@driesvanoosten4417 Yeah im not sure, all very strange. They sould have to look into again after what George said in that interview and take the penalty back.
I wonder if their minds were already made up after seeing the crash impact, red flags and the drama out of George. Just how much did the stewards look into it?? Is there an appeal that Alonso or Aston Martin can look into now that George said that?
Sometimes I feel like every team should make Peter Windsor required viewing for every driver after the weekend. You are one of the only people who talks with insight and sense. Thank you!
It's nice to hear someone with common sense. It seems rare today.
Except in this instance, Peter seems completely unaware that every driver makes adjustments on their sterring wheel on every lap. Its almost as fundamental to an F1 lap as shifting. On a push-to-overtake lap, the adjustments will be even more intense.
Here's a link to a video of Fernando himself doing so at Qatar.
ruclips.net/video/CT2kCuBEObU/видео.html
The penalty Alonso got was RIDICULOUS
Why? Alonso braked earlier and even downshifted only to go back on throttle.
Sounds like clever, tactical racing to me
@@C3lloman because it wasn’t a brake test, it was Russell’s slow reaction time due to him drive without care and attention
@@chrisj1909 it was from Alonso hence the reason why the penalty was RIDICULOUS
@@C3lloman iF you took your eye off the road to look on your phone and then took drastic action to avoid crashing into the car in front but still crashed, would you still blame the driver I front for brake testing you? Don’t be so silly 💀
George specifically said he was not watching the road. Nuff said.
Where I come from that is called distracted driving and is a serious offence
When you admitt to taking your eyes off the road that means you are the one at fault.
@@peternordahl2408 Making and adjustment to your car while youre driving, IE, shifting, changing the temperature, isn't distrcted driving. What is more, every driver makes many such adjustments each and every lap. I think you need to learn a lot more about F1...
Wait you look at your shifter to shift? You look at your ac? I just shift and watch the road...@@matthewsmith8249
@@matthewsmith8249 I think you need to get your head out of your ass.
Well said Peter, I cannot agree more.
When it comes to appealing a penalty the rules say you cant appeal unless you have new evidence. Does George saying a week later that he had not been looking at the road count as new evidence?
They shouldn’t ask AstonMartin for new evidence after this
Aston cannot appeal the penalty now, too much time has passed.
Its 14 days to review/appeal so they have time
I honestly think it does changes the cause more fun Fernando to George not looking where he was going
Peter’s a straight shooter.
Love it.
Sorry officer, I was messing with the radio while I crashed
Oh that’s ok then , it’s obviously not your fault 😂
*sigh* You don't know much at all about Formula 1. Every driver makes mutliple adjustments to steering wheel settings on every lap. Here's a video of Fernamndo himself doing so at Qatar.
ruclips.net/video/CT2kCuBEObU/видео.html
Note the title of the video.
@@matthewsmith8249 bore off 😂
@@matthewsmith8249 sigh, you make stupid assumptions
@@naiboz Well, you didnt seem to know that every F1 drivers does what George did numerous times per lap. You also didn't seem to know how much lifting alone slow an F1 car, or what Alonso actually did, and where he did it.
@@matthewsmith8249 🙄 more assumptions, maybe you should stop commenting nonsense
Seems like F1 has some catching up to do.
As a pilot flying at night it is ESSENTIAL to know what switches I adjust by touch alone as I look out of the dark cockpit. That's why all the switches have individual markings that I can feel through my fire-proof gloves.
Tell that to Peter Windsor.
You know, I can admire that he doesn’t burn down George for he’s a professional who might have to maintain his objectivity, but on the other hand he’s trying to explain a very dubious situation.
He has every right to say that George is talking BS and that he should pay more attention next time but instead he’s kind of making it an issue for the FIA to simplify the steering wheel?!
Sorry but I don’t buy that.
With the modern helmet cams we regularly see drivers making adjustments like brake balance and so on and because of the little camera we can clearly see that they don’t even tilt their head down while doing that.
Like you say, I believe that a formula one racing driver should be able to adjust about 90% of the functions on his steering wheel blindfolded.
Sure, there are a few features that have to be checked on the display but like we all know (drivers tell us all the time) they prefer to make those adjustments on the straights when they have clear vision and space, not when you are hunting for a position with a competitor at 250 kilometers an hour….
George is just seeking excuses and that’s cowardly enough but he also damages Alonso’s reputation with it.
He even managed to pass Fernando in the general classification position…..
So he gets rewarded for being stupid and Fernando gets punished twice for George being stupid……
So thank you for your contribution Sir, I wish you many pleasant and safe hours in the cockpit. 👍🏼
@@CaptainBinkieyeah George sucks since he went to merc.
@@myvishan I agree….,
@@myvishan Even before that, or are we going to ignore the Bottas incident, after which he literally slapped Bottas while he was getting out of the crash?
Salt on hamilton fan 😂
I think given George’s admission, he was looking down at the steering wheel while closely following Fernando at high speed, gives Aston Martin grounds to appeal the 20 second drive-through penalty and get it reversed.
The penalty was because of Fernando’s actions
@@unthenner5519 I disagree. Drivers lift all the time, trying to mess up drivers attempting to overtake them. Fernando what’s got a penalty because of the effects of the battle which was George crashing. George crashed because he wasn’t paying attention. Checo did not crash in a much more ferocious battle with Nando, which lasted much longer, and which was much closer at inter-Lagos last season. the difference is Checo did not run out of talent. Because Checo is a better wheel to wheel battler. He’s not faster than George, but he’s a better wheel to wheel battler.
@@teamredgutz399 Not in the middle of a straight...lifting slows an F1 car down to the tune of 1g. Alonson lifted, braked and downshifted, and had to reacclerate, and upshift again just to make the apex.
Drivers make numerous button adjustments on every lap. Its fundamental to an F1 lap.
I couldn't agree more with all of your points. In road accident if you hit the back of another car, you're at fault generally. I don't think there should have been any penalties especially in light of George saying he was looking down. Weird, no?
What weird is Fernando, lifting (which slows an F1 car to the tune of a full G), tapping the brakes and downshifting 100m early on a 350m straight. So dramatic was this that the has to acclerate and upshift again just to make it to the apex.
With respect to what Geroge was doing with toggles and bottons, my goodness, every driver does that every lap. Its as fundamental to an F1 lap as shifting.
Here's a onboard video showing this precisely:
ruclips.net/video/CT2kCuBEObU/видео.html
Rare to see Alonso getting some support. I'm very impressed by this analysis.
Yea, I'm not a fan of his, but that penalty was way too harsh.
@@MooncricketsInc Well. The section of track was 350m long, and he lifted, braked and downshifted 100m early---that's the middle of that straight. It was so dramatic that he had to upshift and re-acclerate again to make the apex. This was erratic, absurd and dangerous.
In case you don't know, lifting alone slows an F1 car to the tune of 1G...the same as slamming on the brakes in a road car.
As for what George was doing, making adjustments on the wheel...my goodness every driver does that several times each lap, its almost as fundamental as shifting.
This was a good analysis of the incident - seeing the incident I was also surprised that George did not recognize what the car that he was intensively figthing with to gain a position was doing - my initial estimation was, that he was deliberately not backing off in order to not compromise his own exit and simply misjuged the dirty air - so his saying "I simply didn' t look at the road in front of me" shocked me as well, nearly as if he would have said: "I just made a short nap" ... this penalty was a bad joke in any case.... Thanks for this video and thoughts.
Sounds almost like everyday texting, distracted driving indeed.
Exactly !
Are you aware that during a race, every driver makes multiple brake bias and diff adjustments every lap? Are you aware of the fact that Fredo slowed 100m early…on a 350m long straight? That’s stupid wrong and dangerous. Drivers of his caliber don’t make such mistakes.
Yap!
Salt on hamilton fan. If LH did this , 80% of these comments wouldn't exist 😂
Salt on hamilton fan 😂. If LH did this , Windsor wouldn't even have made the video
Good points you are right Peter!
great points, Peter!
Especially approaching a corner that has had so many accidents!
Let's look at the replay...nope not on Fernando's gearbox.
What puzzles me is Russell’s apparent lack of awareness of his own situation. He started by admitting it was on him, then he claimed he was caught out by Alonso’s allegedly erratic driving, now he tells everyone he wasn’t looking ahead at 250kph. The PR guy must have been holding their head and groaning in despair.
I'd have been thinking of flogging the guy😂
Right? Optics, George.
That was the most amazing review on the incident I've got. Thank you peter, I was always againt the penalty
This is a legit argument that should be highlighted. I had the feeling that Russell was sloppy behind the wheel when he was crashing out behind Alonso....now we know why!I don't know why Alonso has to be obligated to drive exactly in the same manner lap after lap...in a race!?
As I suspected from the very beginning, Georgie boy was caught off guard, and that's why he crashed the damn car. He should be a man and recognise his fault, and Fernando should be cleared of wrong doing.
There was plenty of room to dart to the right. Instead he wandered into a no downforce zone and just drifted off the track. Stupid.
This video makes me want to look back at his onboard for Singapore
I just did. George indeed was changing settings right before the incident. You can see the dash light up and a number changing. You can ofcourse not judge whether he is looking down or not.
@@driesvanoosten4417then maybe also watch Silverstone 22, Austin 22 and Italy 21. George is a bit crash happy
I saw it at the time and wondered why it wasn't an issue.
king george must be happy to be alive
What was it Max said… George is very good at talking. I think that about summed him up.
Great points Peter!
Interesting that the head of the GPDA would go to the stewards and presumably tell them that he was fully alert and caught out by Alonso driving erratically, and then later retell the story saying that he was actually distracted.
That's not a very trustworthy thing for him to be doing.
There is a term for it. Lying.
I agree that we could expect more integrity from someone in that position.
That’s one of the reasons that I was very surprised that he got the job, and I still can’t believe that people take him seriously.
The other drivers aren’t crazy, blind or deaf, so they know what’s going on in George’s head……
At least Max know exactly what a smooth talker George is…..
George's mental balance is off
Glad someone called this - George has a history of stupid mistakes, and Fernando had to be penalised?
Yup…….
George always finds excuses for his own mistakes…….
Carlos would now sing “smooth operator” for George is a very smooth talker when it’s on his own behalf……
George driving into Bottas: it's Bottas' fault.
George driving into Max: it's Max' fault.
George driving into Alonso: have a guess......
@@hanskuijsten2380 right!
And you know what’s worse?
They didn’t even touch eachother!
It all happened behind Alonso.
Imagine you’re driving on the freeway, you look in your mirror and you see a stupid driver that’s playing with his radio spontaneously “jump” into the guardrails……
Next thing you know you get stopped by the police for initiating an accident……
@@CaptainBinkie😂well said
@@Tinei1 thank you, it just popped up in my mind and I thought it would be a good analogy…..
Telling lies and making up spin is always dangerous.
Because its so easy to carelessly screw the lie up when you try to repeat it later.
Totally agree. George has basically admitted that he himself was equally responsible for that accident. If he was watching the road his reflexes would have let him respond in time
Thanks for the clear explanation Peter!
Very interesting observations
Same thing he said when he hit botas
100% agree! Make it more baren, braking, shifting, steering! No changing modes or set-up
George us so an over hyped driver you said best “ Alonso basically got penalty for confusing George “ well said Peter best voice in f1
Glad you touched on this!!!
George is just plain blank not that good. And nando is pushing the boundaries at 40+
Another great analysis Peter
If George was bearing down on Alonso he's always going to have to make an adjustment at that distance from Alonso. The only alternative would have been to drop back to make the adjustment.
You are right about the complexity on the wheel.
I think the penalty was really about doing an unexpected deceleration leading to an accident.
Honest practical racing analysis from Peter ❤💪
Good points, Peter. And, by extension, imagine if Fernando had been hit with a penalty as severe as you rightly say is justified for genuine break-testing - and then George only admits a week later that he wasn't watching the car ahead. At that speed and distance, it only takes a lapse of concentration of half a second to result in a potential crash. That in itself is testament to the incredibly job F1 drivers do.
thank you. well said
Thank you for making a clear explanation over this issue PW, this needs more attention from everyone.
Great points, as usual 💯
Spot on analysis
In the performance driving schools they teach you to look as far ahead as possible at your driving line. Everything else with peripheral.
A really fair analysis!. And I especially don’t understand George. Remove these or some of these buttons. So I agree and it should be included in the final sentence
I have raced fast cars on the big tracks we all know and it is so, so true that drivers, in response to the racing situation/competitor's position in that millisecond, are constantly adjusting their approach to turns, entry angle, entry point, pre-turn braking, trail braking, trailing throttle, return to throttle time, return to throttle level, willingness to drift, exit angle and so on. It is just absurd to say that a driver can "expect" another driver to do anything, let alone something they have done before.
The same thing I’ve said about modern cars having all their controls via a large ‘iPad’ touch screen. How many collisions are caused while drivers are looking at those screens instead of what’s happening in front of them. Drivers can learn where buttons are so that they can operate them with ‘muscle memory’ without taking their eyes off the road. But you can’t do that on a touch screen or switches that you have to look at to see where they are, whether you’re negotiating a busy motorway or a race track at speed. So I agree 100% with Peter
Thank you for this very interesting and clarifying comment. This makes the whole incident so much more logical. The water under the bridge is much clearer now 😉👍
That should negate the penalty
the first sensible take i've seen on this subject
George Russell doing George Russell things.
It was simply Fernando trying to give Russel something different / the slip, because Fernado knew that russel was likely going to pass him in the next straigt. It cought Russel by surprise, he crashed and as a result everyone is making excuses. Its just that simple. Does anyone else think this?
I thought exactly the same when I heard George say that ! Ridiculously dangerous manoeuvre!
I agree with you completely Peter.
Even in modern passenger vehicles, manufacturers are incorporating touch screens, requiring us to be inattentive towards the road, in order to make a basic adjustment to heating volume or other. At our Honda dealership here in Canada, we called them Senior killers.
I , like you, think the same idea should apply to the race car steering wheel as well as assented vehicle display screens. PLEASE, manufacturers, bring back tactile controls, that do not require us, to look at them to see what we are doing with them.
That penalty was ridiculous.. this info makes it even more so
Good talk Peter! Very clear too bad they can't see that!
I will admire George and all of 5 Mercedes fans after 2024
Great point ! Absolutely agree.
100% agree with the points here.
Lolol. This is literally the topic of THE INFAMOUS QUESTION. “A short view back to the past…” that legend was correct the whole time!!
Well said Peter
Nice one
Well said❤
Saying he is not to blame is like saying the people that text and drive are not to blame. He is 100% to blame.
"Gentlemen, a short view back to the past..."
Now that George is less confused about his actions, Fernando should get his points back.
Sir Tussell has never made a mistake in his life.
Thank-you Peter - I caught that as soon as I heard him say it and YES - IT WAS DISTRACTED DRIVING - SLAM DUNK! You would loose points on your road license for that! He didn't admit that at the time because he wanted to put all of the blame on ALO! I knew right away that ALO did not brake test him - he lost control of his car .... AGAIN! The Alonso penalty & points are bullshit! RUS should have received them!
Yes! Thank you. It bugged the hell out of me when he said that at the press conference. Outrageous. Imagine if we had telemetry charts from Senna, Schumacher, Prost etc back in the day. There would be all sorts of things like the Alonso/Russell thing coming up. It's racing. Imagine Schumi/Hill Australia '94 telemetry! Yeah, the steering wheels are becoming like bloody laptops these days, but it's disingenous of George to forget to mention he didn't even have his eyes on the road after the crash.
This is ridiculous, George should take some responsibility for his actions, he acts like he did nothing wrong while other driver gets unfairly penalized. Meanwhile the guy admits he wasn't paying attention before a fast corner.
Well,he has taken responsibility,hasn’t he?No one forced him to confess to not concentrating
@@andrewpease3688not really... saying it should be penalized or otherwise a can of worms would open is not taking accountability in my eyes.
How about you watch the road next time when following a car closely
Great comment as usual, sir Peter!
Your a genius mate...seriously speaking, no one from FOX sports or F1 talked about that point when Georges was looking at the dash. That penalty should be taken off asap. Georges screwed up twice now.
Glad you brought some context. I was very angry with Alonso based on the closure rate he created, and make no mistake it was on purpose and I am still in the camp of Hulkenberg saying its a step too far, but, knowing that part of the closure rate was Russel's fault for recklessly looking away at a very tense moment in a very dangerous part of the track I now assign blame equally and Russel is deserving of some censure. I am a lifelong Alonso fan and was on the George train when was at Williams, but the fantasy team principal is now saying we can count on George to crash, how can we make him a crash name? George Crashel? Alonso pretending to have throttle problems afterwards was wretched.
I’m blown away buy that too
what i find remarkable is that with the stewards taking all the data into consideration, they didnt bother to check the camera on georges car, or even the data to see if he was maipulating switches at the time he crashed
Yeah, Russell is a great driver! Tough job!
Love the Jody story, Jody was special ... 🙏
Palmer did a good analysis of this incident for F1 tv. Clearly alonso was driving erratically but russel should take some of the blame too. Telemetry shows that russel didn't break hard enough and ended up too close to alonso. I still sympathize with russel coz he shouldn't have to break early due to alonso's actions.
That CameronF1 hunk also has a similar take.
I think you hit the nail on the head. A good, established, regular car road driver, with common sense, has more road sense than the greatest race prodigy.
I think seb lost it because he had kids and a wife and found sense.
The greatest youths have "bravery" because they have nothing to live for ,except glory.
Was this part of a longer stream? Where do we find that stream, not on RUclips?
"Gentlemen, a short view back to the past" question is now more relevant than ever
Okay but how is this Alonso's fault?
Now you know why Kimi would yell: Leave me alone I’m driving!
George wasn’t paying attention and Fernando got punished for it
Good point, my thinking is that he was in a situation where he had to make adjustments to something to remain competitive?
I am sure that the try this and try thing is over, he makes the same adjustments every lap.
If I am right then there is a serious design flaw with the steering wheel.
It should be possible to make any adjustment by feel.
Just like we do in our road cars with cruise control for example.
I don't have to look down to do it.
As complicated as a F1 car is it should not be that more difficult to drive.
Be interesting to see the maths for all of this.
How many changes does a driver make over a lap, how many milliseconds does he take his eyes of the track and what percentage of the lap time is he not looking at the track.
This is even more complex than it sounds.
The driver needs to adjust his focus twice.
Once on the steering wheel and then back onto the track.
The milliseconds add up.
Maybe they need adaptive cruise control.
Yes I agree this needs looking into.
Yeah, it would also be interesting to compare those stats to those of pre-2014 steering wheel designs. Most teams overhauled their steering wheel designs, moving to large multi-function screens, but they also removed and/or simplified the designs after losing the manual KERS controls.
Outstanding Peter. The immediate question I had when it occurred was what would George have done if the slow down was the result of a mechanical failure? Would he still have punted into the wall? Not a good look…
My thoughts exactly!
...I remember being brake tested by a guy on the Hanger straight,(circa 1981) during a Metro challenge race,: his name was Windsor,is he a relative by any chance?....happy days they were.
The FIA did not say it was a brake test as I heard it. They said Alonso drove erratically given the telemetry. It may have been with no intent of affecting the car behind (although let’s be honest that could plausibly be a racers crafty instinct) but it was nonetheless introducing an element of danger - hence the penalty. Of course glancing down at the steering wheel at 200 kph plus and close behind a car about to brake into a high speed corner also introduces a degree of risk. Bit of a mixed bag.
agree! get rid of the buttons and adjustments.....radio and gearbox is all they need.
George stuffed his race all by himself. All he had to do was keep his eyes on the road. He showed an equal lack of awareness when he told us he was looking down. Stuffed himself twice.
You make several valid points with which I agree, Peter...it sounds, from your overview of the progression of "Russell quotes", that he is trying(perhaps subconsciously) to "spin" his perception of the incident, to not make him out the fool [looking down at the steering wheel]...basic functions should be so intuitive as to not require direct visualization...sounds to me a series of questionable actions combined to create this incident...each should be looked into...(David)
Hi Peter you have a point. It does raise questions and it might be a cause. I am choosing not taking what george or Fernando says too literally. George might be telling himself that as an excuse to himself to give himself confidence for the future. I think George was probably looking at his reference points and further ahead on the track and not focusing on Fernando more than anything. I am pretty sure other accidents could be caused by drivers doing what Fernando did