Jolyon Palmer column: Rivals wrong to be too hard on Max Verstappen
Palmer：對手對Verstappen太過嚴苛是不對的
出處：BBC體育版F1 Jolyon Palmer專欄
原文網址：https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50222106
內文：
Jolyon Palmer, 29 October 2019
(Palmer現在為BBC團隊的一部份，以競爭者之角度提供看法及分析)
Max Verstappen caused a stir in Mexico last weekend. It was a race he could
and should have won, but didn't because of some naivety and a disregard for
the rules.
Max Verstappen上周末在墨西哥引起了一陣轟動。那場比賽是他可以贏下而且應該贏得的
比賽，但他卻因某種程度的天真以及無視規則而錯失機會。
There is no excuse for his actions in qualifying on Saturday, when he failed
to lift off as he passed yellow warning flags for Valtteri Bottas' crashed
Mercedes. But on a wider level Verstappen is actually taking some unwarranted
criticism at the moment.
沒有任何藉口可以說明Verstappen在週六排位賽通過Bottas撞毀的Mercedes時沒有收油門
的行為，但整體來說其實Verstappen目前也接受了不少毫無根據的指責。
Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Bottas were quick to throw jabs at
Verstappen in the post-race top-three news conference.
Lewis Hamilton、Sebastian Vettel以及Valtteri Bottas在賽後頒獎台記者會時毫不猶豫
的調侃了Verstappen。
Hamilton said you had to be aware you are racing Verstappen and give him
extra space, and alluded to the fact that he isn't the smartest racer. Vettel
agreed. And Bottas declared the Red Bull driver came from nowhere in his
overtake in the tight stadium section and could blame only himself for the
puncture that ruined his race.
Hamilton表示當你在與Verstappen賽車時必須給他額外的空間，同時暗指了Verstappen不
是最聰明的賽車手，同時Vettel也同意了此說法。而Bottas則表示紅牛賽車手在最狹窄的
棒球場區間的超車是「不知從何而來」的，造成他比賽無望的爆胎也都是自己所造成的。
In reality, Verstappen's race was actually almost blameless.
事實上，比賽中Verstappen整場的表現幾乎是無可責怪的。
Hamilton's notion that Verstappen "torpedoed' him at the start is well
wide of the mark.
Hamilton形容之Verstappen「魚雷了他」的說詞也是與事實相入甚遠。
Actually, it was Hamilton who was bold in trying to pass Verstappen
around the outside at the start. Hamilton ended up getting into a massive
slide all on his own, and that forced Verstappen off on to the grass at Turn
Three, along with the Mercedes.
實際上，是Hamilton試圖從外側超車的舉動過於勇敢，導致他自己的車產生了一個很大的
打滑，並且在三號彎逼迫Verstappen與他一同上了草皮。
This wasn't anything more than plain, hard racing. So finger-pointing at
Verstappen post-race is just unfair. Verstappen was actually the innocent
victim in that incident, which demoted him from his fourth place at the start
down to eighth.
這一切不過都只是正常、激烈的賽車，因此在賽後對於Verstappen說三道四實在是很不公
平。Verstapeen在該事件中根本是無辜的受害者罷了，該事件也導致他從第四名跌落至第
八名。
From there, Verstappen's move on Bottas consigned him to a race of
recovery, but there was nothing wrong with that. It was a lovely overtake and -
again - good, hard racing. Yes, it was aggressive, but Bottas has no right to
be complaining about it.
從那之後，Verstappen會對於Bottas做出超車一舉只是因為他要拯救那場比賽，而且該舉
動也一點錯都沒有。那是次漂亮的超車，很好、很激烈的賽車。的確，那個舉動很「兇」
，但Bottas根本沒有權利對此抱怨。
Does Verstappen deserve his reputation?
Verstappen會有如此名聲是他應得的嗎？
When you actually analyse the last year and a half of Verstappen's career,
since Canada 2018, he has been brilliant, and at least as fair as most of his
rivals around him.
當你仔細分析Verstappen自從2018年加拿大分站後一年半以來的表現，他表現得非常傑出
，至少與大多數他周圍的車手有同等公平。
The sad truth for him is that he is carrying the reputation along with him
that he earned in his early Formula 1 career, when he arrived as a raw
17-year-old with only a year's experience in car racing under his belt.
對於他不利的事實是，他仍然扛著他F1早期所得來的壞名聲。在他進入F1時，他還是個只
有一年賽車經驗的17歲年輕人。
Looking at some of the incidents of recent times, it is other drivers
generally at fault:
讓我們看看Verstappen最近的幾次事故，通常反而是其他車手的錯：
Vettel's Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc punted Verstappen out of third
place on the first lap in Japan earlier this month and received a penalty for
doing so.
這月稍早，Charles Leclerc在日本賽的第一圈中將Verstappen撞至賽道外並且因此受罰
。
Vettel crashed into the back of Verstappen, depriving him of third place and
was heavily penalised at the British Grand in June.
七月的英國大獎賽中，Vettel從後撞上Verstappen導致後者損失第三名，Vettel因此遭
受嚴重逞罰。
Both Ferrari drivers have been happy this year to drive Hamilton on to the
grass in a straight-line, an obviously unfair and potentially dangerous move
- Leclerc during the Italian Grand Prix Monza, and Vettel at the start in
Mexico.
兩位法拉利車手 - Vettel和Leclerc都曾在直線中將Hamilton逼至草地上，如此行為既
不公平又非常危險。(Leclerc於義大利大獎賽，Vettel於墨西哥大獎賽)
Leclerc's predecessor at Ferrari, Kimi Raikkonen, punted Hamilton off at the
start in Silverstone and was penalised for it.
Raikkonen仍在法拉利時於英國大獎賽在起跑時與Hamilton撞車，並因此受罰。
Vettel punted off Bottas at the start of the French Grand Prix last year and
was penalised.
Vettel於去年法國大獎賽起跑時與Bottas撞車並因此受罰。
The only real misdemeanour Verstappen has made has been beating Leclerc to
the win in Austria by driving him wide on the exit of Turn Three - a move not
as bad as either Vettel's or Leclerc's in Mexico or Italy, and one that,
while it could have gone either way, the stewards deemed legal.
Verstappen唯一一次行為不檢是在位於奧地利大獎賽爭冠期間逼迫Leclerc在三號彎跑偏。
但是該次行為根本不及Vettel及Leclerc於墨西哥及義大利來的糟，而且該行為被賽事裁判
們認為合法(儘管判罰與否幾乎是50:50)。
Verstappen's move on Bottas in Mexico was the only overtake any of the
front-runners could put on each other in the entire Grand Prix. He was simply
unlucky to pick up a puncture for it. And his recovery drive was incredible.
Verstappen對Bottas的超車就整場比賽下來看，其實還是領跑三隊唯一一次超車，他因此
發生爆胎僅僅是運氣不好罷了。另外他事後的recovery非常令人難以置信。
After driving around for an entire lap on three wheels, Verstappen finally
emerged from the pits on lap six a full minute behind race leader Leclerc.
在以三顆輪胎開完以整圈後，Verstappen出站時已整整落後領跑者Leclerc長達一分鐘。
After a further 66 laps, having passed 14 cars, most of which were on track
with some spirited moves that at times were arguably a bit too risky, he
ended up 68 seconds away from the race winner Lewis Hamilton, and pretty much
still a minute behind Leclerc.
在開完剩下的66圈，超越了14台車(大多數都是在賽道上完成，某些時候可能稍微風險大了
點)後，他最終落後分站冠軍Hamilton 68秒、落後Leclerc一分鐘。
Verstappen also completed 67 laps at good pace, on a single set of hard
tyres, that put Hamilton's 'miracle' 48-lap stint into a relative perspective.
Verstappen同時也僅用一套硬胎、以非常不錯的速度跑完67圈，讓Hamilton「奇蹟的」48
圈相形見絀。
Paying the price for a foolish error
為一次愚笨的錯誤付出代價
Verstappen's Sunday was purely unlucky. But his weekend began to unravel
because of his foolish moment on Saturday, and subsequent petulance in the
news conference. That is what cost him a likely victory.
Verstappen的正賽非常的不幸，但他的周末在他星期六愚蠢的瞬間即記者會中過分的自性
就開始急轉直下。這就是導致他失去一站很有可能拿下的分站的原因。
Had Verstappen followed the rules at the end of qualifying, he would have
been on pole position, not next to Hamilton at the start. He never would have
needed to pass Bottas, and he had the pace to win this Grand Prix at a canter.
假設Verstappen在排位賽結束時有遵守規則，他將以桿位起跑，而非在Hamilton旁邊。
他將永遠沒必要超過Bottas，同時也擁有非常足夠的速度贏得分站。
Verstappen is one of the outright fastest drivers out there, as each of his
three Red Bull team-mates in the last year can attest.
Verstappen是目前最快的車手之一，他過去一年內的三位隊友便可證明此事。
So what went wrong?
所以哪裡出錯了？
His initial pole lap in Mexico was superb, underlining his pace, and putting
team-mate Alexander Albon in the shade.
Verstappen一開始的桿位單圈非常出色，不僅強調了他的速度，更讓他的隊友Alex Albon
的成績顯得毫不起眼。
At the end of the session, attempting to improve on his time, he kept his
foot to the floor past Bottas' crashed Mercedes, when yellow flags were
flying. That was foolish and cost him the pole he was so desperate for.
在該節的尾端時，他想要提高它的成績，因此他在經過Bottas時仍保持全油門。這個舉動
很笨，也因此讓他失去了他非常想要的桿位。
All drivers are aware of the rules when it comes to passing yellow flags. It
has been ingrained in them for years. You have to back off.
所有車手都非常清楚經過黃旗時的相關規定。這項規則已經行之有年了，你必須放慢。
I was given exactly the same penalty as Verstappen in China 2017, after
Antonio Giovinazzi hit the wall in his Sauber.
我(Palmer)在2017年中國站時也曾被給予相同處罰，就在Giovinazzi開Sauber撞牆時。
I thought I might get away with it, because I did actually lift off past the
incident and had no time on the board anyway, so either way it was a risk I
had to take. Haas driver Romain Grosjean received an identical penalty at the
time, and the message became perfectly clear.
我當時以為可以逃過一劫，因為我當時確實鬆開油門了，加上當時還沒做出成績，因此我
必須賭賭看。當時Hass的Romain Grojean也受到了同樣的處罰，因此這項罰則變的相當明
確。
Since then, there have been other cases of drivers improving under yellows,
but they are getting rarer and rarer, and are usually involving someone, like
Grosjean and me in 2017, who has no time on the board and therefore nothing
to lose.
從那之後，仍然有些許車手想在黃旗底下拚單圈的個案，但越來約稀少，而且通常都是那
幾位車手，像是2017年的我跟Grojean。
Verstappen in fact picked up the same penalty for the same crime in Sochi
last year, but that was in a nothing-to-lose context - he was going to start
from the back regardless.
事實上Verstappen去年在索契也受過相同處罰，但那次他沒甚麼好損失的，因為不論如何
他都將從排尾起跑。
However, in Mexico, Verstappen had everything to lose and nothing to gain.
然而在墨西哥，Verstappen這麼做會損失一切，同時也沒甚麼可以獲得的。
But he wouldn't necessarily have known that. In the cockpit, he probably
thought Bottas' crash was going to cost him pole, as his rivals might improve
and he wouldn't be able to. That is the only mindset that makes sense here,
and therefore Red Bull could have helped him out from the pit wall.
但他當時也不盡然完全了解情況。在駕駛艙內，他八成想著Bottas的撞車會讓他賠掉桿位
，因為他的對手可以提升成績，而他不行。這是他沒減速的唯一合理解釋。在這種情況下
，紅牛的工程師們是可以幫他了解情況的。
Albon and Leclerc came through and didn't improve before Bottas crashed.
Hamilton was close enough to Bottas to not have yellow flags when he came
through the crash site, but was slower in the final sector anyway.
Albon和Leclerc在Bottas撞車前完成了單圈，但都沒有進步；Hamilton則是因為太接近
Bottas導致他在黃旗開始揮舞之前就通過事故地點，然而他仍然在第三區間慢了。
But Red Bull would have known the rules as much as the drivers, and they
should have just told Verstappen to abort the lap as soon as the crash
happened, because it was clear that his pole lap was going to be unrivalled
anyway by that point.
紅牛當然會知道規則，而且他們也應該在事故發生當下馬上通知Verstappen放棄該單圈，
因為在當時Verstappen的桿位已經確定不會再有挑戰者了。
The team would have been able to see, but Verstappen in the car would have
been unaware - hence his keeping his foot in past the yellow flag.
車隊當時是可以看見撞車狀況的，而Verstappen在車內無法知道，因此他最終仍然保持全
油門通過。
But this doesn't excuse Verstappen, who should have known he had to back off
anyway, as Sebastian Vettel had done ahead.
但這不能是Verstappen的任何藉口，不論如何他當時都應該放慢了，就像Vettel之前做的
一樣。
What was surprising is that it seemed to take Verstappen's comments in the
media to spark an investigation at all.
令人訝異的是，似乎是Verstappen對於記者的回答才讓官方開啟調查。
This was where the Dutchman really dug his own grave and forced the hand of
the FIA, who by this point had no choice but to investigate and subsequently
penalise the Red Bull man.
這就是荷蘭人自己挖坑給自己跳了。FIA這是別無選擇只能調查該事件，最終處罰了紅牛
車手。
Clearly on the defence under questioning as to why he had not lifted off,
Verstappen was rattled and reeled off a load of curt answers that were both
an admission of guilt and a scant disregard for safety at the same time.
顯然，在被質疑他為什麼沒有放慢時，Verstappen很不高興，並提出了一系列既不認罪
又不顧安全的簡短回答。
A driver acting more cleverly might have been able to avoid the questions
better than Verstappen, or certainly not answer them as directly as he did.
一個更聰明的車手應該可以比Verstappen更好的迴避這個問題，至少不用像他回答得如此
直接。
He also seemed unaware at this point as to what the rules were - not only by
plainly breaking them in the action of keeping his foot down, but also by
suggesting that if he were found guilty he would just have that final lap
time deleted.
在這一點上，他似乎還不知道規則是什麼。他不僅是在沒放油門的行為上明目張膽地打破
了規則，而且還以為如果被判有罪，他也只會被刪除最後一圈時間。
That is the penalty for being guilty of exceeding track limits on a
qualifying lap, not for driving flat out past a crashed car, as he had found
out a year previous in Russia.
那是超出賽道限制的罰則，不是全油門通過撞車地點的罰則。他在去年俄羅斯站就該體會
過。
Judge Verstappen for now, not then
用現在的Verstappen評斷他，而非用過去的他
With his aggressive driving, and bullish remarks he makes himself arguably
the most polarising driver on the grid at the moment.
憑藉他的積極進取和樂觀的言論，他可以說是目前闈場內評價最兩極分化的車手。
It was only a year and a half ago, after all, that he declared that he would
punch in the face the next reporter who asked him about his series of early
2018 accidents.
畢竟就在一年半前，他曾表明將與下一位向他詢問他開車風格的記者決勝負。
But the reality is that in Mexico one error of judgement cost him, and made
him an easy target for those around him and the media to harp back to the old
version of him.
但現實情況是，在墨西哥，一個錯誤的判斷使他付出了代價，並使他成為周圍人和媒體輕
鬆追隨他的舊版本的目標。
Qualifying in Mexico did highlight that there is a level of immaturity to
him, on and off the track. But Verstappen is still only 22; there's plenty of
time to mature.
在墨西哥的排位賽確實突顯了他在賽道上和賽道外的不成熟程度。但是Verstappen仍然只
有22歲。他還有很多時間可以成熟。
Ultimately he is one of the best and certainly most entertaining drivers out
there. While he has certainly had a chequered past in F1, right now he still
cops a lot of flack he doesn't deserve, from both his fellow drivers and the
media.
不論如何，他仍然屬於最強的一群車手之中，當然也是最有趣的車手之一。儘管他無疑在
F1上經歷了一段艱難的過去，但現在他仍然從他的對手和媒體那裡應對了很多他不應該得
到的批評。