Ferrari Fined!

[Peter Mallett]

Don't know if this is posted elsewhere but the team was fined for allowing Rubens out whilst Alonso was coming down pitlane.

http://www.formula1.com/race/news/1408/716.html

[fiona]

it was trulli not alonso
and it was ferraris fault for releasing him early so they should cop the fine not rubens

[Peter Mallett]

Apologies. Trulli it is. And as I said it was the team.

[Gt_R]

Yeah..reasonable..because considering the speed, and that there are many people along both sides of the pitlane, that makes things dangerous.

I guess Ferrari rather pay a fine than risk having JPM come out in front of RB.

Anyway, is there a code of conduct in the pit lane as for those exiting and those entering? Eg, the one entering takes a outer lane while the one exiting takes the inner lane..preventing cars coming together. How many lanes are there in the pitlane?

However, it isn't the first in recent years..there were a few last year alone, and all went unpunished...

[red5]

As far as i know, the Lollipop-Man has to look, if the Pitlane is free, before he can give the signal to exit.
Otherwise the car has to wait until the pitlane is free

[Don K]

Originally posted by red5
As far as i know, the Lollipop-Man has to look, if the Pitlane is free, before he can give the signal to exit.
Otherwise the car has to wait until the pitlane is free

In fact, if I remember correctly, the pitlane was free when the lollipop-man gave the signal.

After that, there was a problem with the car.
And by the time the car was able to get away, Trulli was approaching.
Don't remember seeing what the lollipop-man was doing at that time, though (I think the camera was aimed at another team by that time).

[Don K]

Originally posted by Gt_R
However, it isn't the first in recent years..there were a few last year alone, and all went unpunished...

I think this one was a lot more dangerous than the one we had previous race (wasn't that Trulli coming out of the pit just in front of Barrichello?).

So the penalty was prefectly justified this time.

[Gt_R]

Yeah..what i'm saying is that it is about time teams are punished for such incidents.. Recent years' competition has heated up quite a bit and teams are pushing such safety to the limit..hence we get cars coming out of the pit together vying for a narrow lane more and more "close".

If anything, FIA ought to make it absolutely clear that such danger would not be tolerated and teams practice more responsibility. Not just Ferrari..every one. Today is a good step.

[Bleu]

Didn't Ferrari got penalty last year in France for same reason?

That was practice incident when Schumacher was let out at the wrong time and he was hit by Webber who damaged front wing.

[red5]

Originally posted by Don K
In fact, if I remember correctly, the pitlane was free when the lollipop-man gave the signal.

After that, there was a problem with the car.
And by the time the car was able to get away, Trulli was approaching.
Don't remember seeing what the lollipop-man was doing at that time, though (I think the camera was aimed at another team by that time).

Let's hear, what Rubens said:
"(In the pits)I had a problem when I thought I could go, but the car did not move as it was still up on the rear jack. That lost me time and then I had to brake to avoid Trulli in the pit lane. The team told me to keep pushing in case there was any penalty, but I certainly had no intention of blocking Jarno."

[Peter Mallett]

Before anybody gets the wrong impression. I posted this as a point of discussion not to put any blame on anybody in particular. And certainly not Rubens.

[climb]

Just two consideratons:
1) 10,000 $ for Ferrari is nothing
2) In any case, each team would have done the same; that's not a problem of good or bad faith, just a matter of bare chance: it may happen or not, that someone is coming when you're starting again.

[1200Datto27]

Why wasn't Maclaren fined for releasing Coulthard in front of Webber? They ran side by side for most of the pitlane.

[Peter Mallett]

Ditto. I was waiting for someone to mention that.

[Bononi]

Originally posted by Peter Mallett
Ditto. I was waiting for someone to mention that.

Exactly.

[hgmonaro]

wouldn't have been they other way? In my sleep deprived brain, Webber joined beside Coultard

[1200Datto27]

Suffering from the sleep deprivation as well, It may have been that way, I have been trying to remember who's pit bay is first, and I think that it is done in manu championship order (2003), from the enty to pitlane, so it may have been jag in the wrong, but either way, what was the difference?

[hgmonaro]

Jag getting fined instead of McLaren! Yes, no difference.

BTW, Coultard released his pit lane limiter a poomtenth before Webber and beat him to the corner by a mile!

[garcon]

Must admit I was surprised Brundle didn't make the connection during the race when the news came through that the stewards were looking at an incident between Rubens and Trulli - the pit lane was my immediate thought.

You know I'm a Ferrari fan, but I'm not going to attempt to defend them here - clear case I thought, all be it unintentional and a little unlucky with Rubens' delay getting away. Having said that, the lollipop man should take that into account. Pit lane safety is of paramount importance, and although such a fine is meaningless to Ferrari in financial terms it's a useful safety reminder to all teams.

As others have said, I'm not sure why the Coulthard/Webber incident wasn't looked at - the idea of a side by side race to the rev limiter doesn't appear terribly safe to me!

[1200Datto27]

I was talking more about compared to the Ferrari incident, but I can see the issue there. I did notice how much DC beat MW to the corner, I did not think that there was that much of a difference between the cars.

[Don K]

Originally posted by 1200Datto27
I did notice how much DC beat MW to the corner, I did not think that there was that much of a difference between the cars.

Maybe that's the difference between having 159 F1 races experience and having 35 F1 races experience.

Webber has only just started his third year.
I would expect him to keep improving the next few years.

[Gt_R]

Precisely incidents such as DC/MW make me wonder why a punishment or warning isn't issued earlier.

In anycase, it's the team further down the pitlane who has to watch for faster traffic coming down the lane and only let their cars out at the correct time..especially with the higher speed limit.

[1200Datto27]

IIRC mw was next to the pit wall, which should have made him the first out of the two. Arrgh, now I'm getting myself really confused.

I'm going to bed!

[Peter Mallett]

DC was nearest the pitwall. Sleep well.

[avsfan733]

utterly ridiculous to fine Ferrari and not either DC or MW....I notice the Anti-Ferrari crowd isn't here? isn't this some coverup for Ferrari favoritism?