MAY 10, 2012
Senna: You want to race hard, but not to death
On track etiquette has been a subject of discussion since Nico Rosberg went unpenalised in Bahrain for staunch defence of position against Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain.
On track etiquette has been a subject of discussion since Nico Rosberg went unpenalised in Bahrain for staunch defence of position against Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain.
Subsequently, at an event to mark the 30th anniversary of Gilles Villeneuve's death, Alonso commented that there is sometimes a lack of respect shown by some of F1's current drivers.
The matter will be spoken about at tomorrow's drivers' briefing in Spain, where Bruno Senna said today: "I think Rosberg pushed a bit like the GP2 guys were pushing in Bahrain, to be honest. If there had been grass there (on the run to Turn 4) maybe the other car would have just T-boned him, so I think we should stick to leaving enough room for another car to pass."
World champion Sebastian Vettel, meanwhile, expressed the view that Bahrain was a bit of a special case.
"Bahrain is exceptional because you have asphalt run-off and we always try to go to the limit. If there would have been grass there, it would have been a different story," he said.
Senna added: "Sometimes you see people pushing other people off the track, like Michael did with Lewis last year in Monza, and nothing happened, and now with Rosberg, but other times maybe we will see people getting punished for that.
"Ideally, you have enough respect for the other guy to leave enough space on the track. We are going to talk about it. It's important, and keeping someone else behind you at all costs, even putting your life and another person's life in danger, is a bit too much. You want to race hard, but not to death.
"Some drivers race hard and squeeze, but there is a limit. I don't think pushing a guy off the track is acceptable."