10 place penalty for Hamilton and Rosberg

[Notso Swift]

The only thing I question about this call is Rosberg not getting a stop go, but then, maybe they did that because they wanted to give the same penalty to both drivers (which is reasonable)
As soon as I saw it I thought that a 10 place would be applied, because that is consistent and appropriate.

[Born Racer]

However, he did pay for it by losing an almost guaranteed victory and 10 points

That's not a reason not to punish him for it though, because it's the principle that's important.

If that loses him the championship, it's a bit of a shocking error. Easily done though.

[alonso11]

Originally Posted by Super Hans

However, he did pay for it by losing an almost guaranteed victory and 10 points, .

no question Hamilton was the fastest man of the weekend, but dont you forget he retired from 3rd place and not 1st.

also, im not sure if the concept of "dont penalize him, he's sad enough for not winning anyway" is quite the direction to go for the stewarts

[RaiseYourFist]

I dont see how it was an avoidable accident if it happened and like others have said he was probably going to win otherwise, also he locked up and at that point he pretty much had no control over his car.

[Super Hans]

Originally Posted by alonso11

also, im not sure if the concept of "dont penalize him, he's sad enough for not winning anyway" is quite the direction to go for the stewarts

Not sure what it's got to do with Sir Jackie & Lady Helen, but I take your point on board.

[alonso11]

you would be surprised how many steward's surname is Stewart

[OZ_HCR32]

Originally Posted by ensign14

The same avoidable accident that Kimi and Alonso each had in Monaco? That's the problem. Whatever the circumstances they were all "avoidable accidents".

I think a 5 stop penalty would be enough, but i dont see it being too out of line giving them 10 places.

A racing incident under a green flag is one thing. A racing incident in horrible visibility and slick conditions is another thing. Now an accident under yellow in the wet is a problem, didnt Vettel get penalised last year? What happened a few years ago in Monaco with the crash coming out of the tunnel under yellows?

A crash in pitlane whilst under the safety car is in my eyes the end of the world in motorsport. The only worse condition / sin i can think of is crashing under a full red in a incident unrelated to the cause of the red flag.

Originally Posted by RaiseYourFist

I dont see how it was an avoidable accident if it happened and like others have said he was probably going to win otherwise, also he locked up and at that point he pretty much had no control over his car.

And that is exactly the problem.

[Gt_R]

I don't understand the fuss.

While i found it slightly ridiculous for some to compare Lewis's error with Kimi's error in Monaco (simply forget the speed, the conditions, etc etc which essentially make them very different errors), it was more disappointing to hear it from Whitmarsh whose statement almost implied Lewis was punished simply because he's in a Mclaren.

On a seperate note, i think the penalty was coming and could be justified. Had Lewis not hit anyone (e.g. Kubica/Kimi not there), Lewis would have beaten the light and got a penalty. The fact that he hit somebody in the process (in the pitlane which is supposedly dangerous to marshals/pitcrew/tv crew) merely made the steward's decision easier.

Much as i love Lewis for his talent and driving abilities, he did screw this one up. I disagree though with Super Hans who said Lewis lost an almost certain victory and 10 points. Both Kimi and Kubica have overtaken Lewis at the point of accident, and Lewis would have that "theoretical" drive through had he missed both Kubica/Kimi. And even on pace alone, i think Kimi has it if we compare laptimes. While Lewis had a slight edge on the initial laps on softer tyres, Kimi on prime were consistently quicker by 0.2 to 0.5secs on the 6 laps before the accident. On the longer stints to follow, Kimi would have sufficient pace to stay ahead of Lewis. How Kubica fit in would be harder to estimate, he could also win, or 2nd, or 3rd. There's no certainty that Lewis would have won.

That said, with the penalty imposed on Lewis and Rosberg (wasn't too long ago another driver had his penalty brought to the next race), i think we should let it go and go easy on Lewis. It's a silly error, it's frustrating for me to see Kimi lose important points.. but i guess **** does happen and having Kubica/BMW win their first race was consolation enough. At least Ferrari scored some points to their constructors.

[Notso Swift]

Incidents in Pit lane are VASTLY more serious than on the track, because they put a lot more people at risk, this is why the pit lane, while being part of the course has a whole host of special rules

[strider]

Originally Posted by ensign14

The same avoidable accident that Kimi and Alonso each had in Monaco? That's the problem. Whatever the circumstances they were all "avoidable accidents".

Yes, but that's why you then look at the circumstances in each case to decide whether or not a penalty should be applied.

Hamilton would not have won the race, because if Kimi's car had not been there to hit, he would have gone straight through the red lights and been excluded, as were Massa and Fisichella last year.

I was also very disappointed with his attitude in the TV interview.

What's really disappointing is that we were deprived of a great race. The fastest lap Kimi had just set stood for the rest of the afternoon, so he had the pace. So, obviously, did Kubica, whilst McLaren must have fuelled Hamilton long for him to arrive at the pit lane exit behind the other two.

[Oldtony]

Lewis locked up and prety much no control And this was in pit lane with the speedlimiter on. Dumb mistake by Lewis, lousy pit stop by McLaren, stupid comment by Charlie, fair decision by the stewards.

[phansa88]

would you jump a red light at a junction on the british road NO you get fined and points. so the stewards are right. . me i make him start from the pit lane
behind the red light so he knows what one is

[phansa88]

By the way i don't like lewis.

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by phansa88

By the way i don't like lewis.

From where do you know him ?

[JohnSSC]

First off, could we compare apples to apples? This incident was similar to the Massa/GF incident last season in Canada and Rubens earlier this year (can't remember where and too lazy to look it up) that cost him points. Since all three drivers did not hit anyone the penalty was assessed immediately.

Second, the rules are the rules. Just because we as viewers are not expecting to see lights arranged a particular way, this arrangement would have been communicated to the drivers (who are, I am reminded, the cream of the crop) and such lights were in use the entire race weekend.

Third, I watched the replay several times and I am not convinced that LH had the brakes "locked up." There are no skid marks that I can see (except whatever residue may be in LH's fireproof undies as a result) - he simply drove right into KR.

Fourth, this whole "oh, he never crossed the line" argument is just, well, silly! He would have crossed the line way more than he did except for KR participating in the vast FIA conspiracy against McLaren by stopping his car at the line like he was supposed to. A clever ruse, that, thus luring LH into ignoring the light and ignoring the fact that there were two cars at a dead stop in front of him. Thus, LH hit the Ferrari and likely would never have crossed the line except those dastardly folks at Ferrari did not make the car heavy enough to stop the Mc's momentum until just after it crossed the line.

Fifth, for everyone who posted last season about what a bunch of maroons work for Ferrari and Renault for NOT telling their man that the red light was on, and again ripping Honda a new one for not telling RB that the red light was on, we are now supposed to believe that no one at McLaren, including LH, bears any responsibility for knowing the rules and paying attention to same?

[Born Racer]

Ron Dennis confirmed to me that the team told Lewis to watch out for the pit lane exit light being red,

http://www.itv-f1.com/Feature.aspx?T...Allen&id=42949

[Born Racer]

From the same article:

This is interesting in light of Raikkonen’s collision with Adrian Sutil in Monaco, which cost the German five points, but did not attract a 10-place grid drop for Kimi here in Canada… Figure that one out.

I figure that they are not remotely comparable incidents.

[JeremySmith]

Originally Posted by phansa88

By the way i don't like lewis.

And he feels the same way about you..

[OZ_HCR32]

James Allen, he certainly is a fan boy for Lewis. Considering it was a big weekend for F1, first race win for Kubica, first win by BMW, first 1-2 by BMW he was very toned in his commentary. Anytime Lewis gets a sniff there is fireworks

LOL, i bet James Allen has tapes of Lewis and he watches them to pick up his mannerisms, the clothes he is wearing etc. The runs around the house dressed like Lewis, talkign like Lewis...wishing he was Lewis

[RaiseYourFist]

Originally Posted by JohnSSC

Third, I watched the replay several times and I am not convinced that LH had the brakes "locked up." There are no skid marks that I can see (except whatever residue may be in LH's fireproof undies as a result) - he simply drove right into KR.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbcHS0Yvtqg

@ 1:47ish you can see the smoke

[Mr V]

Likeit or not, he ruined someone elses race, he (and Nico) deserve the penalty.

[enemy-ace]

I wonder why Hamilton didn't take out Kubica instead

[Mr V]

In hindsight, and now knowing that Kubica is leading the championship, Lewis should have hit them both

[shugruah]

was coming here to post that you tube link.
you can see several things in that video around 1m47
1- contradictory signals from the lights, frist red (hamilton still far away), then those 3 blue lights, and red again (hamilton brakes half a second second after the red light)...
2- he went into Kimi because their was no red light in the back of kimi's car. the ferrarri was ahead of Kubica and with no red lights. I do the same thing in traffic: when someones breaks in a red light I go to the line where I have more space and time to stop the car....

For me, the penalty is a way for the stewarts get rid of the blame. They messed up with the lights...
not lewis fault:the lights are blue, the front car doesn't have the back red light.......

It's a desaster for Lewis. He dominated the weekend, and get away with a penalty...

Still, he will be the champion... because he is better than the rest... and alonso it's not his team mate... even if his team mate won't be there for him ... (can't pass barrichello and vettel with a mclaren LOL!)...

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by shugruah

For me, the penalty is a way for the stewarts get rid of the blame. They messed up with the lights...
not lewis fault:the lights are blue, the front car doesn't have the back red light.......

Watch it again, without your Lewis hat on. The red light isn't one solitary light, it is two flash (alternating) red lights, so the stewards didn't turn them off, then on again as your post implies.

As for the blue lights, these would come on whether it was a safety car period or not, they are to warn drivers exiting the pits that there are cars on the start/finish straight.

As for Kimi not having a red light on, errr, can you point out where the rain was? These lights don't come on when the limiter comes on, it comes on when the driver manually put them on in bad weather.