Renault Suspended for Valencia!

[Gatecrasher]

Worst F1 decision i can remember http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77354 :grr:

its like the FIA and stewards dont like F1 being about the racing and more about them being the centre of attention :rolleyes:

[OtterHibee]

Worst F1 decision i can remember http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77354 :grr:

its like the FIA and stewards dont like F1 being about the racing and more about them being the centre of attention :rolleyes:

Now that would be a first :greengrin

With the publicity surrounding driver safety at the minute, Mosely, Ecclestone and the FIA want to be seen as taking every measure available to them in order to limit the number of potential risks in the sport.

Nevertheless this is a pretty harsh and unnecessary punishment for an incident that happens in motorsport year after year. Would Renault have been suspended had there not been one fatal, and another serious accident involving dislodged car parts in the past fortnight? No, probably not. Using the same logic, should Brawn not also incur some sort of penalty given that it was part which had come loose from one of their cars that effectively put Massa in intensive care?

Teams are under so much pressure in the pit lane to release their cars in such a short space of time, and even with the repetition of pit stops and the amount of practice that goes into them, it would be madness to assume that teams would not make the odd mistake every once in a while. These things happen. I can recall a fair few occasions where tyres have come off at speed and ended up bouncing across the track, and the teams are very rarely penalised for it let alone suspended from subsequent grand prix. Hopefully Renault will succeed in their appeal. Surely a fine and a slap on the wrist at the most would suffice.

As an aside, this (http://sport.scotsman.com/sport/Horror-returns-to-the-F1.5494334.jp) article in yesterday's "Scotland on Sunday" caught my eye. I'm quite sure there is a bit more that can be done to improve driver safety, but it's just a question of 'what'. Of course you never want to hear about drivers being killed (the heart goes out to Henry Surtees' family) or critically injured and you'd like to think that everything possible is being done to prevent such tragedies, but I actually think Kimi's comments below are right up there as the most realistic I've read on the matter.


"It is just an unlucky situation what happened today. It could have happened two years ago, or it could happen five years ago. The cars have an open cockpit so there is always the chance that something can hit it.

"It is not the first time someone has been hit and unfortunately sometimes drivers get very badly hurt or die. It is part of the risk in motor racing. For sure Felipe was very unlucky today and hopefully will be okay, but you cannot get rid of that issue. You would need to make a rule for a bullet proof window in front of you to get rid of that issue. It is just unfortunate that these things happen sometimes."

[Jack]

The FIA stewards have been out of order for years with their double standards.

Kimi Raikkonen was charging about at the start of this race and this was to be investigated after the race other drivers in the past, Hamilton for example gets immediate drive through penalties. Kimi was also to be investigated after the last race but I’m not aware of any punishment being dished out for either ofence.

As for Renault and Alonso. While its impossible to tell how much damage there was to the car from the telly its not often a car become totally undrivable after such an ‘clean’ incident and as much was said in the commentary, who are provided with information from the pits. Anyone else think Alonso had a wee hissy fit, he wasn’t about at the end of the race. Withdrawing a car during the race for no good reason comes with heavy penalties.

[Gatecrasher]

Now that would be a first :greengrin

With the publicity surrounding driver safety at the minute, Mosely, Ecclestone and the FIA want to be seen as taking every measure available to them in order to limit the number of potential risks in the sport.

Nevertheless this is a pretty harsh and unnecessary punishment for an incident that happens in motorsport year after year. Would Renault have been suspended had there not been one fatal, and another serious accident involving dislodged car parts in the past fortnight? No, probably not. Using the same logic, should Brawn not also incur some sort of penalty given that it was part which had come loose from one of their cars that effectively put Massa in intensive care?

Teams are under so much pressure in the pit lane to release their cars in such a short space of time, and even with the repetition of pit stops and the amount of practice that goes into them, it would be madness to assume that teams would not make the odd mistake every once in a while. These things happen. I can recall a fair few occasions where tyres have come off at speed and ended up bouncing across the track, and the teams are very rarely penalised for it let alone suspended from subsequent grand prix. Hopefully Renault will succeed in their appeal. Surely a fine and a slap on the wrist at the most would suffice.

As an aside, this (http://sport.scotsman.com/sport/Horror-returns-to-the-F1.5494334.jp) article in yesterday's "Scotland on Sunday" caught my eye. I'm quite sure there is a bit more that can be done to improve driver safety, but it's just a question of 'what'. Of course you never want to hear about drivers being killed (the heart goes out to Henry Surtees' family) or critically injured and you'd like to think that everything possible is being done to prevent such tragedies, but I actually think Kimi's comments below are right up there as the most realistic I've read on the matter.

i agree with most of that especially the bit in bold


The FIA stewards have been out of order for years with their double standards.

Kimi Raikkonen was charging about at the start of this race and this was to be investigated after the race other drivers in the past, Hamilton for example gets immediate drive through penalties. Kimi was also to be investigated after the last race but I’m not aware of any punishment being dished out for either ofence.

As for Renault and Alonso. While its impossible to tell how much damage there was to the car from the telly its not often a car become totally undrivable after such an ‘clean’ incident and as much was said in the commentary, who are provided with information from the pits. Anyone else think Alonso had a wee hissy fit, he wasn’t about at the end of the race. Withdrawing a car during the race for no good reason comes with heavy penalties.

mark webber got a drive through for the start at the Nurburgring and kimi's looked like he could have barged hamilton into vettel IIRC.

[ScottB]

Trust me, Eccelstone was not involved in this decision. We are now heading to a race that only exists because of Alonso and now he aint racing. I would expect Bernie will force a compromise through.

This was just a massive overreaction from the stewards post race. Obviously during the race they didn't think it was that dangerous or they'd have black flagged him.

[Hibs Class]

IF the stewards are correct that Renault released Alonso in the knowledge that the wheel wasn't properly secured (and bear in mind the BBC pit-lane commentator noticed there was a problem as he exited the pits) then it was reckless behaviour by Renault. I agree that it may have been dealt with more harshly this week because of what happened to Henry Surtees, but there may be an argument for reckless / dangerous incidents to be punished by something more than a token fine / slap on the wrist? The pressure to release drivers from pit-stops is obvious, and the incident involving Webber and Raikkonen yesterday illustrates how the lollipop man doesn't always judge it just right.

[(((Fergus)))]

IF the stewards are correct that Renault released Alonso in the knowledge that the wheel wasn't properly secured (and bear in mind the BBC pit-lane commentator noticed there was a problem as he exited the pits) then it was reckless behaviour by Renault. I agree that it may have been dealt with more harshly this week because of what happened to Henry Surtees, but there may be an argument for reckless / dangerous incidents to be punished by something more than a token fine / slap on the wrist? The pressure to release drivers from pit-stops is obvious, and the incident involving Webber and Raikkonen yesterday illustrates how the lollipop man doesn't always judge it just right.

Agree with this. We can't really know whether the suspension is harsh without knowing the communications (or lack thereof) between the pit wall and Alonso. I do know that Alonso complained of having a front-right "puncture". If the pit wall knew the real situation and concealed it form him, then Renault should be fined/docked points, but Alonso should be allowed to race in Valenthia.

[Hibs Class]

Agree with this. We can't really know whether the suspension is harsh without knowing the communications (or lack thereof) between the pit wall and Alonso. I do know that Alonso complained of having a front-right "puncture". If the pit wall knew the real situation and concealed it form him, then Renault should be fined/docked points, but Alonso should be allowed to race in Valenthia.

I certainly agree that sounds a more appropriate sanction, i.e. punish the team more than the driver

[Gatecrasher]

IF the stewards are correct that Renault released Alonso in the knowledge that the wheel wasn't properly secured (and bear in mind the BBC pit-lane commentator noticed there was a problem as he exited the pits) then it was reckless behaviour by Renault. I agree that it may have been dealt with more harshly this week because of what happened to Henry Surtees, but there may be an argument for reckless / dangerous incidents to be punished by something more than a token fine / slap on the wrist? The pressure to release drivers from pit-stops is obvious, and the incident involving Webber and Raikkonen yesterday illustrates how the lollipop man doesn't always judge it just right.

i dont think that would be the case considering the strong position Alonso was in to win the race,if something comes to light at some point then fair enough but with some hefty points at stake even with a long pit-stop at least a top 4 position was possible IMO

theres already people trying to get it overturned http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77376

theres already rumours of reduced capacity due to poor ticket sales - i dont see why spain merit 2 GP's anyway there was poor turnouts untill ALonso fever kicked in anyway the European GP should be changed to a diffrernt country every year in a rotation, its shambolic when places like magny cours and imola arent even on the schedule then a poor mans monaco get one :grr:

[ScottB]

i dont think that would be the case considering the strong position Alonso was in to win the race,if something comes to light at some point then fair enough but with some hefty points at stake even with a long pit-stop at least a top 4 position was possible IMO

theres already people trying to get it overturned http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77376

theres already rumours of reduced capacity due to poor ticket sales - i dont see why spain merit 2 GP's anyway there was poor turnouts untill ALonso fever kicked in anyway the European GP should be changed to a diffrernt country every year in a rotation, its shambolic when places like magny cours and imola arent even on the schedule then a poor mans monaco get one :grr:

What race where you watching? Alonso's strategy would have had him 5th at best.

I agree that Spain barely deserves one race!

[Gatecrasher]

What race where you watching? Alonso's strategy would have had him 5th at best.

I agree that Spain barely deserves one race!


nah with the lap time Alonso was putting in and the way the race panned out a top 4 or 5 finish easy :cool2:

[NOLA]

Alonso should not be punished because a mechanic failed in his job but considering the pressure the pit crew are under no matter how many tests they undertake this wont be the only time such a mistake happens on a race day, the stewards are overeacting because of the surtees fatality and massa's incident

[OtterHibee]

Suspension now overturned (http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/18082009/58/renault-win-appeal-against-race-ban.html).

The fine and reprimand still sets an example, but is far more justifiable than an outright ban. Common sense prevails :agree: