Poll Who thinks that the Hamilton grid penalty is not the right grid penalty?

[chris1981]

This may sound a silly question but what would have happened if Lewis "accidently" ran wide/spun on his in lap and got stuck in a gravel trap unable to get back? He would have had the required amount of fuel on board.

 

[Kewee]

He would have had to start 10th on the grid. No regulations would have been broken though.

 

[tranquility2k9]

This may sound a silly question but what would have happened if Lewis "accidently" ran wide/spun on his in lap and got stuck in a gravel trap unable to get back? He would have had the required amount of fuel on board.

Not necessarily, they'd of seen he had not enough fuel to get back and give a sample and then they'd look at the telemetry and video footage and radio footage and it probably would have come out he did it on purpose. This would lead to very serious fines with even the possibility of the exclusion from this years world championship. That would nearly as bad as Singapore 2008.

 

[chris1981]

In doing so, the driver would have to start 10th anyway so there would be no point. Just interested in whether there was a 'loop hole'.

 

[The Artist.....]

The thing is that Hamilton had sufficient fuel on board for the fuel sample. The problem is that no force majeure took place! I would say though that if a car 'spun' off the track on the lap after the quali lap, there would be huge amounts of suspicion! - mind this is why i also suggest that ANY driver who fails to return to the pits under their own motive power should be disqualified from qualifying automatically- irrespective of the cause!

In doing so, the driver would have to start 10th anyway'.

This isn't true... If force majeure hit on the cool down lap, technically, no penalty would be applied. However, fia stewards would at least investigate this!

 

[KekeTheKing]

What a disgrace. This kind of blatant manipulation has no place in the top levels of sport.

Would Alonso have been sent to the back? No fucking chance.

Hadn't heard a word of this in F1 purgatory (USA) yesterday, and now my Sunday is fucking ruined already.

Only Hamilton.....

 

[Chasz]

I feel this was a just penalty for the team as they knew the car didn't have enough fuel and had already made a similair transgression in 2010 where they had been severly warned.

This is, however, very unfortunate for Hamilton who drove supremely to take pole position and IMO would've done even if he had more fuel on board.

 

[Brogan]

According to Whitmarsh's interview just now, they didn't actually know it was light when they sent it out.

It was only when they started investigating they discovered the fuel man had switched the lever momentarily.

 

[jez101]

I thought from the team radio that the engineer knew they were heading for a penalty. "You are in pole position at the moment"

 

[Brogan]

They knew it was light once he was on the lap and they were checking the telemetry but they didn't know why.

What Whitmarsh was trying to make clear was that it wasn't intentional.

Not that that counts for anything, obviously.

 

[Muddytalker]

I think there has to be something else going on here. I've just heard again the line of "'the engineer accidentally had the fuel pump on 'drain', noticed it, and changed to 'fill', but there wasn't enough time to add on the amount already drained". What is the fill rate of these machines, still around 10l/sec?

I would assume that McLaren under normal circumstances would fill the car to have around 4l left after the qualifying lap, to allow for a slow down lap, a litre for checking and a little bit more for safety.

So, and these figures are perhaps plucked out of the air but not miles wide of the mark, this implies the error was spotted in at most half a second, and there wasn't a couple of seconds to correct it? I don't know what McLaren would be covering, but it just doesn't ring true.

As for the penalty, I overheard MB relaying a conversation with Charlie Whiting, saying (paraphrasing) a technical infringement = disqualification no matter what, so I guess it is the right penalty, but, surely it's (or should be) a sporting regulation, and so a wrong penalty has been applied?

Either way, McLaren have once more expanded the envelope of fuckwittery.

 

[Muddytalker]

According to Whitmarsh's interview just now, they didn't actually know it was light when they sent it out.

It was only when they started investigating they discovered the fuel man had switched the lever momentarily.

Which aborts my conspiracy theory... curses! If this is the case, then it would appear the refuel guy kept quiet when it might have been better to own up.

 

[jez101]

There was a really guilty tone to the exchange.... Like my kids when they are doing something they shouldn't.

 

[KekeTheKing]

What Whitmarsh was trying to make clear was that it wasn't intentional.

The fact that he even has to clarify this shows what a fucking clown show this team continues to be.

 

[GeoffP]

One thing I have learned very clearly in Business is that bad news doesn't mature well - seems like the Management in McLaren are not making sure that message gets through

 

[Mephistopheles]

Well one thing is absolutely clear it was a technical infringement so fair or not the stewards had no choice but to exclude Lewis from the session end of..

 

[KekeTheKing]

This penalty is a complete miscarriage of justice. Go ahead and wipe away the Pole lap. Fine.

But sending him to the back is utterly ridiculous. It makes no sense at all.

Once again. Fernando would have NEVER been called up on this. Not a chance.

 

[Kewee]

KekeTheKing....
I'm not sure what Alonso has to do with this but history shows that Fernando has been screwed by the FIA more than once in the past so to suggest he would be given leniency for any rule breaches is not correct.

 

[Jen]

KekeTheKing, I agree that the penalty was ridiculous, but I'm not sure that your assertion about Nando is fair or accurate.

 

[KekeTheKing]

They would have never ruined the Spanish GP for Alonso for something that was completely beyond his control. Inconceivable.

When you penalize Hamilton, you're assured that 3/4 of the paddock will be elated. Everyone cheers Hamilton penalties. The FIA knows it will be a popular decision.