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I’m trying not to get into the debate of theorising with scenarios on where and how the rules may be applied, what constitutes a rule break, who’s at fault etc etc because it’s hard to attain a true picture without having all the facts available from telemetry to video angles and any mitigating circumstances. In the end, it comes down to personal opinion. My main gripe with the regulations is really not how the rules are written but the protocol for administering them. It is an open secret that Whiting generally has a very heavy workload on Grand Prix weekends and there’s a tendency bypass protocol and also procrastinate when investigating contentious race incidents. If you don’t have a robust system for investigating and punishing offending drivers, the rules will always be misapplied. This the real issue. The system in its current form is not good enough to slot in key officials without compromising the quality of stewarding and having different stewarding personnel only exacerbates the issue. Derek Daly said the reason they missed the Schumacher blocking incident was because they’d been asked to investigate another incident that had happened 15laps earlier yet at the same time Charlie was on the phone offering Mercedes a personal service. How on earth do they justify not investigating an incident that necessitated the deployment of the safety car? On another day, he (Charlie refers the matter to the stewards and the proper action is taken. I think most fans would have more confidence in the system if Charlie and his minions are consistent in the way they go about doing their job. This will not eradicate inconsistent decisions and to be frank I don’t think you can ever legislate for this, but at least we know that the correct procedures are being followed. Sorry I don't understand this point.I think forcing another driver off the track would’ve been an appropriate rule in the Schumacher/Hamilton incident where the latter ended on the grass. Schumacher did not really apply the one defensive one steering movement rule when Hamilton ended up on the grass but actually veered across the track gradually to close the gap like the incident with Barichello last year. It’s like going from the outer lane to the inner lane on the M25. If this isn’t blocking then I’m not sure what is.
I’m trying not to get into the debate of theorising with scenarios on where and how the rules may be applied, what constitutes a rule break, who’s at fault etc etc because it’s hard to attain a true picture without having all the facts available from telemetry to video angles and any mitigating circumstances. In the end, it comes down to personal opinion. My main gripe with the regulations is really not how the rules are written but the protocol for administering them. It is an open secret that Whiting generally has a very heavy workload on Grand Prix weekends and there’s a tendency bypass protocol and also procrastinate when investigating contentious race incidents. If you don’t have a robust system for investigating and punishing offending drivers, the rules will always be misapplied. This the real issue. The system in its current form is not good enough to slot in key officials without compromising the quality of stewarding and having different stewarding personnel only exacerbates the issue. Derek Daly said the reason they missed the Schumacher blocking incident was because they’d been asked to investigate another incident that had happened 15laps earlier yet at the same time Charlie was on the phone offering Mercedes a personal service. How on earth do they justify not investigating an incident that necessitated the deployment of the safety car? On another day, he (Charlie refers the matter to the stewards and the proper action is taken. I think most fans would have more confidence in the system if Charlie and his minions are consistent in the way they go about doing their job. This will not eradicate inconsistent decisions and to be frank I don’t think you can ever legislate for this, but at least we know that the correct procedures are being followed.
Sorry I don't understand this point.
I think forcing another driver off the track would’ve been an appropriate rule in the Schumacher/Hamilton incident where the latter ended on the grass. Schumacher did not really apply the one defensive one steering movement rule when Hamilton ended up on the grass but actually veered across the track gradually to close the gap like the incident with Barichello last year. It’s like going from the outer lane to the inner lane on the M25. If this isn’t blocking then I’m not sure what is.