Ataxia wrote:Er, did you read what I said? He wasn't given the penalty DIRECTLY for the lift incident. He received a reprimand, that's it.
According to the FIA penalty system, three reprimands = 10-place grid drop. No ifs, no buts.
To be a bit more accurate, the penalty after three reprimands kicks in if the driver in question earned a minimum of two reprimands for his conduct on track - having earned a penalty in Bahrain for driving into Rosberg before picking up a second penalty in Canada for speeding in a yellow flag zone meant that any reprimand would have earned Webber a grid penalty by default.
It's unfortunate that it should have happened, but the major problem was Webber returning to the track without the permission of the marshals - it's part of the regulations to prevent teams from cheating (e.g. by collecting weights on the way into the pits to comply with the minimum weight limits) by forcing the drivers to return immediately to the pits for post race inspections. I can see the logic from the FIA in terms of why they penalised those involved - and Alonso did park on the exit of a blind corner on the racing line, which could have ended in a nastier manner if either Rosberg or Hamilton had been going a bit faster and run into him - but at the same time I can understand why some feel that the gesture of goodwill has been crushed by bureaucratic wrangling.
go_Rubens wrote:Cynon wrote:Caterham and Marussia -- Finished behind a car that DNF'd, further proving that new teams cannot enter F1 without being permanently left behind.
The FIA are partly at fault for their unsuccessful reign in F1.
Mind you, it has to be said that the teams are no better and, if anything, exacerbating the problems given that the teams are refusing to let the FIA become even remotely involved in the financial side of the sport. Although the FIA has brought in some cost cutting measures - I believe that they were behind the restrictions on wind tunnel work in recent years - it has generally been FOTA that has driven things like the RRA, although not without creating some friction within the paddock.
Tost, for example, had some rather strong and bitter words about the reintroduction of in season tests (complaining that the teams were "stupid", that they were wasting money by testing but were effectively strong armed by the richest teams into running in season tests thanks to their political leverage).
Fernandes, too, seems to be saving most of his ire for FOTA rather than for the FIA - his complaint was that the teams have "screwed up" the sport by refusing to countenance cuts to spending and would rather drive the sport into the ground than relinquish their control.
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2013/09/20/t ... osts-down/