Melbourne GP Race discussion

[AndreaModa]

I reckon it was a bit harsh to ping him for trying desperately to finish the race, too. Surely you have to give him credit for trying. It seemed like a mix between 3-wheel Gilles and guys like Sir Jack who used to push the car to the finish. I thought it showed good determination and it couldn't be seen as dangerous or anything.

yeah i guess you could view it as a good bit of desperation from a young driver but he had three wheels, no front wing and probably many more damaged parts of the car too. At the end of the day the rules are the rules i suppose so i think the fine is fair. But as it seems the grid penalty was for the crash itself then maybe my hopes for a season filled with many fewer punishments will be dashed!

Ah well we can always hope...!

[Cynon]

The GBP50,000 fine to Red Bull was for allowing him to circulate with 3 wheels!

Which I think is a bit of a disgrace, really, the car is still moving and it's not like parts of his car are flying at race speed into people's faces (and the stewards have already shown they're fine with that. See: Raikkonen, 2008, France). Okay, so the tire could detatch and hit a following car, perhaps taking it out, so tell Vettel he can hold position but must hold one side of the track.

...

...okay they'd allow it in NASCAR, but why not F1? For the sake of consistency, they should allow it. Maybe if he was travelling at race speed it'd be totally okay, when the possibilities of more injuries in Villeneuve, Jacques (remember 2001 Australia?) fashion are more likely.

[ImissJORDAN]

...okay they'd allow it in NASCAR, but why not F1? For the sake of consistency, they should allow it. Maybe if he was travelling at race speed it'd be totally okay, when the possibilities of more injuries in Villeneuve, Jacques (remember 2001 Australia?) fashion are more likely.

For a start, they don't allow it in NASCAR. Secondly, if they had gone back to racing speeds again, Vettel would have been a moving chicane. A safety car period usually ends in a return to racing speed, so the rules on this seem to me fairly logical.

[RejectSteve]

Secondly, if they had gone back to racing speeds again, Vettel would have been a moving chicane. A safety car period usually ends in a return to racing speed, so the rules on this seem to me fairly logical.

That late into the race and everybody knew the car would effectively end under the safety car, so even with the return to speed, all drivers have to hold position until they reach the line and return to slowly returning to the paddock.

[Salamander]

Though parts may not have been flying off Vettel's car at the time, there was nothing to say that they wouldn't by the end of the race.

[captainhappy]

'nuff said

[TomWazzleshaw]

If Vettel were to finish the race wouldn't he have been DSQed anyway for having an underweight car? Drivers have been pinged for that. Kubica's debut race at Hungary 2006 springs to mind

[Captain Hammer]

Speaking of disqualifications, McLaren just got one. Hamilton failed to mention to the stewards that his team had told him to let Jarno Trulli back into third; Trulli has had his podium restored, and McLaren are now effectively last. One has to wonder what would have happened if Kovalainen's race had been better and he had followed the letter of the law, but it's obvious this is a message from the stewards to the other teams.

It'll also add fuel to the fire to the conspiracy that the FIA has it in for McLaren. But I'm pretty sure lying to the stewards is a mistake not even Deletraz would have been stupid enough to make.

[TomWazzleshaw]

I think we have a new ROTR winner

[Waris]

That has got to be the first time a Reject of the Race award went to someone who wasn't actually in the race, doesn't it?

[thehemogoblin]

That has got to be the first time a Reject of the Race award went to someone who wasn't actually in the race, doesn't it?

Pele, the drain covers in Shanghai, etc.... not quite.

[rffp]

Sorry, wrong place for this post.

[Bleu]

That has got to be the first time a Reject of the Race award went to someone who wasn't actually in the race, doesn't it?

Jacques Villeneuve got one in Japanese GP 2003. And then there's lot of some obscure choices, including one for Jamie and Enoch themselves.

[Waris]

That has got to be the first time a Reject of the Race award went to someone who wasn't actually in the race, doesn't it?

Jacques Villeneuve got one in Japanese GP 2003. And then there's lot of some obscure choices, including one for Jamie and Enoch themselves.

LOL! When was that? And why?

[TomWazzleshaw]

2001 Belgian GP because Fisichella had finished 3rd when everyone interested in F! had been writing him and Benetton off for the entire season