Renault not racing at the Europe GP at Valencia

[dave34m]

yeah, i've had a quick look at it, 1, they sent the car out in a dangerous condition and 2, they didnt try to stop Alonso before the wheel fell off, thats the whole point. It was stupid and dangerous. Peanlty deserved IMO

[Ray]

Did Brawn send a car out knowing that a part was going to fall off?

Did Renault send Piquet out last season knowing that the wheel spat would fall off the left reasr? Nope. And Massa almost hit it. But Brawn KNEW something was wrong in the rear and suspected it, something, would fail. THAT'S the difference. They should be penalized.

[dave34m]

OK. I dont really see the connection between the two but OK. I do however see a connection between Red Bull and Brawn but I dont think either needs a penalty. The decison was that the car was released from the pits in an unsafe condition, thats the major point here but i can also see that the failure to stop the car on track was also a fault that is mentioned so Brawn could also have told Rubens to stop as well. That hasn't really been happening ever since I have been watching F1 but i guess they could have.

I an remember in years past when a car has been deemed unsafe, the driver still drove back to the pits to retire so I'm not sure that asking Brawn to park it during Q2 thus ending any chance of a decent qualifing result is normal practice or not but I can see what you are saying.

[Ray]

Getting a good qualy results means nothing when someone damn near gets killed

[alvinkhorfire]

Wouldn't it be better if Renault is allowed to race at Valencia? However, points will be only awarded to driver's championships if they score. The pit crews made the mistake, not drivers, right?

[James_graham]

If there is a faulty part on the suspension it doesn't mean bits are going to fly off! By your ratioalisation Ray Seb Vettel should have stoped long before he did as he had front suspesion damage and knew something was wrong from the first lap.

Noone was to know that the suspension would fail in such a way or I don't think Rubens would have been allowed to race the car! It is a terrible accident and a result of racing cars.

As for Renault I think it is deserved as Alonso shuld have pulled over! If it had happened any other time they may have got off with a slapped wrist but under the circumstances of the past week and a bit the FIA were going to have ot do something!

[astracrazy]

Wouldn't it be better if Renault is allowed to race at Valencia? However, points will be only awarded to driver's championships if they score. The pit crews made the mistake, not drivers, right?

Alonso has got enough experience to know what is going to happen when a wheel wobbles like that and how dangerous it will be. We have just seen one driver killed by a loose wheel.

Yes the mechanics didn't put the wheel on properly
Yes the pitwall should have stopped him
and Yes Alonso should have seen what was going to happen and stopped (especially after what has happened within the last week)

very poor sportsmanship in my opinion, why should the team believe there race is worth more than the safety of others!

[mx_tifoso]

Alonso has got enough experience to know what is going to happen when a wheel wobbles like that and how dangerous it will be.

Brazil 2003 comes to mind.

[jonathan189]

It's fair, but I think (and hope) it will be commuted to a fine on appeal, because otherwise the Spanish crowd with their €480 tickets will be furious and the atmosphere at Valencia will be unpleasant.

[wesley123]

Did Brawn send a car out knowing that a part was going to fall off?

Did Renault send Piquet out last season knowing that the wheel spat would fall off the left reasr? Nope. And Massa almost hit it. But Brawn KNEW something was wrong in the rear and suspected it, something, would fail. THAT'S the difference. They should be penalized.

[sarcasm]exactly, you cna expect that the spring would fall of in that turn[/sarcasm]

[djos]

Did Brawn send a car out knowing that a part was going to fall off?

Did Renault send Piquet out last season knowing that the wheel spat would fall off the left reasr? Nope. And Massa almost hit it. But Brawn KNEW something was wrong in the rear and suspected it, something, would fail. THAT'S the difference. They should be penalized.

[sarcasm]exactly, you cna expect that the spring would fall of in that turn[/sarcasm]

Ditto for Renault sending Alonso out with a loose wheel! no-one sabotages themselves on purpose like that!

[myurr]

Ditto for Renault sending Alonso out with a loose wheel! no-one sabotages themselves on purpose like that!

Difference being it was fairly clear that a wheel that is not bolted to the car is likely to come off the car. In the end it actually came off at a relatively high speed which could have been very dangerous.

Brawn may have expected the part to fail, but did not expect the spring to come out of the car.

Brawn were slightly in the wrong to not have pulled Rubens in so they could replace the part, but given all that's happened Renault should not have allowed Alonso to complete so much of his lap. Their race was already ruined by him having to coast for so long, so they had little to gain with the near certainty of the wheel coming off the car.

[Diesel]

Source that Brawn knew about a suspension failure and a flying spring before sending the car out?

Vettel should also be banned for driving with a failed suspension on these grounds.

I personally can't believe Brawn knew their rear suspension was going to fail, they might have been aware of a problem, but I highly doubt they knew it was seconds from falling to pieces.

Some people need to get over themselves.

[jon-mullen]

What about ... I think it was last year ... when Kimi was driving around with an exhaust pipe held on by a non-structural sensor wire? He should've been shown the black flag and the FIA just let him drive around like that until it fell off on-track. Now an F2 driver gets killed and Massa gets injured and all of the sudden teams are randomly punished for the things we all know can go wrong in racing?



Not to mention there is a series where they have a consistent rule when drivers leave the pits without their wheel nuts full fastened, and it's called NASCAR. They do this crazy thing where they have a rule, stewards, and a punishment, all planned out PRIOR to the race! Only in America!

[axle]

Personally I don't think the penalty fits the crime. I think a ban on points etc would be better for the next race. This A) means Alonso is still there to race in front of his home crowd and B) the sponsors still get their airtime.

Dropping WCC points and a fine would be better for the fans IMO.

As for the Brawn issue...whilst the outcome was cruel and extreme, I don't think the guilt is the same for such a freak accident. A bolt failing possibly couldn't be noticed in the garage as easily as a wheel not on properly.