European GP 2008

[MattF1]

Watching a replay of Kimi's pitstop incident, It appears that the red and the orange lights came on and Kimi reacted to the blue flashing light at the end of the pit lane, directly below the green light.

Hope the mechanic is OK though.

[modbaraban]

The best overtaking move I've seen today was the one of Nakajima

The best and the only

There was no SC because they couldn't follow close enough to even crash into each other. I mean, even if they could, there clearly was no point in doing so, apart from the start when we did see so collisions.

[MattF1]

http://www.fia.com/europegp/documents/E ... ent_41.pdf

Massa gets away with reprimand + fine.

[myurr]

That is so ridiculous and corrupt. The next time a driver clips the white line on the pit exit, or ignores a red light, can they expect just a fine?

For rich teams surely it's worth £10k to them to be able to cut up another car up in the pit lane to gain a place. This sets a dangerous precident.

And for the love of <insert deity of choice here> and all that is holy can the FIA finally turn F1 into a proper sport by detailing infingements and their related punishments. The arbitary and apparently random crimes and punishments are beyond a joke at the moment.

EDIT: Final sentiment, this smacks of the FIA / FOM manipulating results through arbitary decisions to keep the chamionship close. Obviously no past history there...

[ben_watkins]

Massa totally deserved a penalty DURING the race. Any infringement should have been punished then, not after! It will be a real shame for him and the WDC if he has any grid penalty. A fine is a total sham

I don't think it was Massa's fault however. It was their semi-automated system and the belief they have they own the pit lane. Bullshit.

Kimi's incident was his fault. He went on the amber light. No green light and therefore a nasty looking accident with one of his crew. Hopefully the injuries to his foot and back are not too bad.

[myurr]

Yeah I'd like to add that I too do not think that Massa was personally to blame, and usually I like the guy and wish him well. But the attitude in the press conference that Sutil was at fault and should have got out of his way belies an arrogance that seems to permeate throughout the Ferrari team that I really dislike.

But personal blame or not, it was a clear infringement - and one that should have been punished at previous races as well.

[yzfr7]

I agree that the penalty should be to the team and not the driver. They are just there waiting for the team to say 'go', and they go. But why did they have to say specifically that the matter would be investigated after the race? The only reason I could think was that they wanted some words from Massa.

During the race, itv talked to the pr man (Colaini I guess) and his point was that there were 2 or 3 incidents like this in the last races and nothing happened. I can only think of Alonso/Vettel in Nurburgring, which didn't incurred any penalty indeed. Anyone noticed any other?

[gabsy]

I'm suprised that there aren't any 'concrete' rules for incidents like an 'unsafe pit lane exit'.
I agree that a simple 10K fine could set a dangerous precident.
If a driver comes out alongside a driver half way down the pitlane then this could put the other teams pit crew in danger.
Obviously Ferrari are at the beginning of the pitlane so this danger did not occur. Nevertheless this fine has set a dangerous precident.

[gabsy]

I agree that the penalty should be to the team and not the driver. They are just there waiting for the team to say 'go', and they go. But why did they have to say specifically that the matter would be investigated after the race? The only reason I could think was that they wanted some words from Massa.

During the race, itv talked to the pr man (Colaini I guess) and his point was that there were 2 or 3 incidents like this in the last races and nothing happened. I can only think of Alonso/Vettel in Nurburgring, which didn't incurred any penalty indeed. Anyone noticed any other?

I haven't noticed any others, but I imagine there have been some that simply weren't in any of the TV coverage possibly.
I can't see how they could investigate the matter after the race, at the end of the day Massa came out alongside Sutil, it was Ferrari's fault, and there is no excuse, and therefore the stewards should not have needed to talk to anyone about the incident.

[gabsy]

Watching a replay of Kimi's pitstop incident, It appears that the red and the orange lights came on and Kimi reacted to the blue flashing light at the end of the pit lane, directly below the green light.

Hope the mechanic is OK though.

I think the main thing throughout all the events today, Massa's included, is that the mechanic is fine and has not sustained any serious injury.

[gabsy]

Hamilton tends to crash others out of contention though. He has a real bad habit of rearending people.

Sad to see Kimi blow a motor, but he just seems to not really care. What's up with him this year?

It's almost as if Kimi is content with his 1 World Championship.
I really would not be suprised to see him retire at the end of next year to be replaced by Alonso.

[axle]

The precedent was set when Vettel wasn't punished for being released next to Alonso and then not giving up the place, instead he forced Alonso to, because he was forcing Alonso over the white line.

Vettel should have had a drive through for that. And Massa IMO should have had one today. The FIA have cocked up both decisions and as said it sets a dangerous precedent, no team now needs a lollipop man to release the car as they obviously don't need to worry about the other cars.

Massa did though deserve the win though. Punishment would have been harsh but rules are rules.

[gabsy]

The precedent was set when Vettel wasn't punished for being released next to Alonso and then not giving up the place, instead he forced Alonso to, because he was forcing Alonso over the white line.

Vettel should have had a drive through for that. And Massa IMO should have had one today. The FIA have cocked up both decisions and as said it sets a dangerous precedent, no team now needs a lollipop man to release the car as they obviously don't need to worry about the other cars.

Massa did though deserve the win though. Punishment would have been harsh but rules are rules.

I'm worried that someone is going to be seriously hurt if there are two cars alongside each other going down the pitlane.

[woohoo]

Its a recent trend, this pit lane racing.
Just look at Canada

But overall the race was boring.
Apart from the two-three first corners of the race, there was no passing.
It was another Hungary circuit. Id rather have Long Beach back...

[donskar]

I'm afraid autosport.com summed up the race very accurately:

"Massa got cleanly away in the lead from pole position, while his front row partner Hamilton had to work hard to fend off Kubica into the first corner. The top trio then settle into that order for the rest of the afternoon."

I hope and pray that next year's rules will re-introduce racing. I love Ferrari, but would rather see them finish second in a close race than lead a procession devoid of competition.

My mother-in-law walked into the room and asked,

"What's this."
I said, "A race."
"A race? Where are the other cars?"
"The leader is ahead by about 8 seconds."
"8 seconds?! You call that a race?"

Well, she's 92, but not senile!

Earlier this year there was a good bit of discussion about Vettel replacing Massa. I later said Massa was the best #2 in F1, but he'd never be a team leader.

Massa has dominated the last two races in a manner reminiscent of Jim Clark (1 or 2 of you will remember him?) He simply disappears at the start and it's game over (if the engine lasts!)

It looks like Kimi has achieved his goal: WDC. He hasn't officially retired, but one might say that he has quit racing. The disparity between his and Massa's performance is astonishing.

On engines: Speed TV announcers said repeatedly that the belief in pit lane is that McL has a 25 HP advantage. . . .