Vettel weaving at the start of the race, you mean? If we penalise him for that, we either have half-a-dozen penalties to dish out on lap 1 of every race, or drivers don't bother trying any more. This is what I mean about taking a balanced view and being able to apply the rules flexibly. Lots of rules are conveniently overlooked in certain circumstances and this is healthy, in my view.
It's a fair argument, but what Hamilton did in the middle of the race was not really dangerous, and safety is what the rule is supposed to be there for is it not?
And I seem to remember that it was Michael Schumacher's antics, frequently
off the start (and far more violent than anything we've seen recently by others, I might add) that were pretty much directly responsible for the introduction of the rule in the first place. Which would suggest to me that the charge into the first corner is
not exempt.
The FIA should be much clearer about their intent; are they attempting to stop drivers preventing other drivers from overtaking, or are they trying to prevent dangerous incidents? If the latter, one could make an argument that what Vettel did in Sepang was more dangerous than what Hamilton did.
Personally I'd be in favour of removing the rule completely about the number of defensive moves, and leave it to the stewards to decide if any particular incident was dangerous or overly aggressive. Otherwise, and especially with the advent of KERS and the DRS, F1 might soon find itself in the position where once a driver fighting for position is within a second or two of his target, the marshals might as well show the leading driver the blue flag.
