Quote:
Originally Posted by Terry S
What a Mickey Mouse organisation. So the penalties are a SECRET.
No wonder Pye and Coulthard were confused at the end of the race. Imagine Tim Cendric ringing back to Roger Penske that we really cam second and third but now they have some secret penalty they have made up which drops us way down the field.
And what of the viewing public perception. There was poor Crompton on live TV trying to find penalties that aren't in the book. You could hear his great frustration clearly as he made several attempts.
And as I said above if it is all so clear why was it changed from 30 seconds to 60 seconds overnight?
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I don't believe that the penalties are a total secret - the teams are exposed to them and the penalties themselves are set before each season by the Commission, which has team reps on it.
The stewards have a range of penalties available to them and apply the penalties depending on the circumstances - some are straightforward (such as pit lane speeding) some more involved.
Where it falls down is when (as in this case) a commentator is trying to make a live call during a race on what penalty might be applied. That might be in regard to on track incidents, pit lane breaches etc.
Clearly the results at the conclusion of the race had some penalties applied by the stewards - those results immediately after the race are never final and are subject to protests, further stewards hearings etc.
Clearly after further investigation by the stewards the decision was taken that a penalty of 60 seconds was the go for those that didn't fuel.
It's all due process but jeez it's not a good look - made worse by the commentators having NFI in regard to a number of rules through the race, clearly not getting good advice from their assistants and the wide range of confusion that often comes with severe weather conditions such as those seen on Sunday.