Another bad F1 Stewards decision.

nilagin

nilagin

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The Renault F1 team have been excluded from the next round of the championship in Valencia for releasing Alonso from his pit stop without securing his wheel properly and not stopping him from rejoining the race. I think this is just a knee jerk reaction because of what has happened to Massa. But I feel the penalty is way over the top. Surely a fine would have sufficed.
 
I don't think so, the wheel was obviously loose and I was surprised he didn't get black flagged!
 
admirable said:
I don't think so, the wheel was obviously loose and I was surprised he didn't get black flagged!
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If it was so obvious then he would have been black flagged. Some of the wheel aero plates are self locating when the wheel nut is screwed on, others have to be turned by hand after. Initially it looked like they just forgot to do that it was only after the wheel came off and they showed the pit stop replay it was apparent what had happened. It's not the first time a wheel has come off because a nut wasn't put on properly and no team has been excluded from racing then.
 
Totally agree it was very harsh penalty! :thumbsdown:

Alonso realised there was a problem and took it 'very easy' to get back to the pits....it's not like the wheel came off at racing speeds!
 
What has Massa got to do with it?
 
admirable said:
What has Massa got to do with it?
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That'll be ref to what happened on Sat quili when Massa was struck by a spring that fallen from the back of Rubins car. Suspect the Surtees incident last week was also on there minds too.

Alonso know straight away that there was something wrong. As for the penantly seems the way the of Motorsport at the moment but.

Have the results actually fully confirmed though, as Kimi was under investigation for the start.
 
stopher said:
Totally agree it was very harsh penalty! :thumbsdown:

Alonso realised there was a problem and took it 'very easy' to get back to the pits....it's not like the wheel came off at racing speeds!
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no, of course it didn't, thats ok then, because if it hit someone doing 180mph full racing speed, would have been ok wouldn't it :wacky:



I think the reaction is knee jerk, of that there is no doubt, but probably the correct one all things considered over the past week. If you watch the pitstop replay, the F/O/S wheel man knew it wasn't secure, he was still trying to do so as the lollipop man prematurely released the car. With the current hot potato topic of bits of cars hitting drivers, ANY doubt in renault's collective minds should have been dealt with much quicker then it was. Fortunately, no damage to anyone other than the car.
 
very harsh, a big fine would have done, but to exclude???
 
i think it;ll get reduced on appeal.

the very fact the guy was still fumbling with the wheel when the car was leaving the pitbox to me suggests she shouldnt have been told it was ok to leave. i think the penalty is less for the fact that the wheel came off, but more for the fact that the team released the car when the wheel man as far as i could see hadnt signalled that he had finished working on that corner, and then to compound the problem they didnt immediately signal to alonso on the radio to stop in the pitlane (where they could run down and fix the problem) or radio him to take it easy/stop on track, he was left to figure it out for himself tbh.

a wheel falling off a car at 30mph is enough to do a hell of a lot of damage to a trackside spactator/marshall/photographer (with a bit more oomph behind it it could easily vault any catch fencing. the sheer force behind a rolling wheel would as we have found done alot of damage if it had rolled back onto the track.

i think a financial penalty would have been better, why penalise the driver, it wasnt his fault, it was a it error(no need to worry about buggering piquets valencia weekend because its most likely that will be spent licking his wounds)
 
Reading the article the suspension was given for a culmination of things.
  1. For the car being let go with out teh mandatory wheel retaining bolt having been fitted
  2. For the car being released while some one was still working on it
  3. For the car being released when it was known not to be road worthy
  4. For not telling the driver !!!!!!!
  5. For still not telling the driver when he reported back that he thought he had a puncture .....

All in all it's probably fair and I seem to remember there have been a number of 1 race bans in the past seasons for similarly dangerous stuff as well.

It also explains why Briatore left before the end and looked thoroughly ****ed off.
 
dapprman said:
Reading the article the suspension was given for a culmination of things.
  1. For the car being let go with out teh mandatory wheel retaining bolt having been fitted
  2. For the car being released while some one was still working on it
  3. For the car being released when it was known not to be road worthy
  4. For not telling the driver !!!!!!!
  5. For still not telling the driver when he reported back that he thought he had a puncture .....

All in all it's probably fair and I seem to remember there have been a number of 1 race bans in the past seasons for similarly dangerous stuff as well.

It also explains why Briatore left before the end and looked thoroughly ****ed off.
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"i give you your p45 in the posta mr nelsiho!"
 
The reaction might also have something to do with the death of Henry Surtees who was hit by a wheel that had broken loose - admittedly that was as a result of an accident but a strong punishment after a knowingly preventable breach given the bad safety spell some motorsport is having at the moment isn't that surprising even if it's more harsh on the driver rather than the team which is the bit I feel is most unfair IYSWIM.
 
I think excluding the team is a bit harsh to be honest; this is, after all, the lollipop mans error. He let the car go before the right front wheel was fully attached, hence the wheel coming off later in the lap. The poor bloke is probably gutted, he has one of the most stressful jobs in the pitlane, and him being a bit twitchy has cost Alonso a decent result, and the team the chance to race in Valencia.

Nobody in F1 would knowingly and deliberately let the car out with a wheel loose. What would be the point? It's obviously going to come off, and at best cost you massive amounts of time and ruin your race. Everybody is human, and we all make mistakes.
 
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