Australian GP 2011 - Albert Park, 24-27 March

[i70q7m7ghw]

Good that they are appealing but the rules are the rules, so we will just have to see what transpires.

I'm surprised at Hamilton's result being allowed to stand. The undertray of the car was clearly dislodged and as such dangerous. Now I read that Hamilton was tampering with it in parc ferme?! As pointed out by David Coulthard there have been instances in the past where lesser and accidental damage have led to either someone being hauled into the pits for repairs or even disqualification. I think he was lucky today to not be hauled up for this.

There also been worse instances where cars haven't been black flagged and clearly should have. Kimi at Nurburgring in 2005?

Anyway, the worry was the plank would be too worn out, there's a limit on how much wear is allowed. Nothing to do with the damage itself, just passing the scrutineering. Clearly it was fine.

[zgred]

I think he was lucky today to not be hauled up for this.

+1

I think he was worried as hell that the car wont pass... Could see it on his face during the press conference...

Even before...

[Richied76]

if its was totaly worn then yeah he should have been disqualified. BUT it was obvious that it was damage. It could be proven by damper traces on the teletry that the ride hight wasnt lowered AND as for dangerous...he ran off the road at turn 1 bouncing all over the grass and it never came off. the amount of load that goes through the floor the fixings that hold it would have been more than strong enough to hold it is either one of them failed surly?

[andrew]

And what about him sticking his hand under the chassis and apparently tampering with the damage? That is definately dodgy!

[piast9]

I think he was lucky today to not be hauled up for this.

He's lucky because as the Technical Report http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/f1 ... report.pdf says, the car 03 wasn't checked for skidblock thickness at all...

[Tamburello]

This guy has had more lives than a cat since Spa 08...

[zgred]

[i70q7m7ghw]

And what about him sticking his hand under the chassis and apparently tampering with the damage? That is definately dodgy!

I'm pretty sure someone would of noticed him swapping the plank for a new one, what was he going to do with the old one, tuck it down his trousers?

[andartop]

As much as I would have liked to see a Ferrari on the podium, this would certainly not have been the way I'd like to see it happen. Therefore good decision not to disqualify Lewis for that in my opinion, as it definitely did not give him any advantage.

Not so sure about the warning he and the Mercedes duo got after qualifying though. They either blocked or they didn't. If they did, why not a grid penalty as we've seen so many times in the past? Imagine how this thread would look like had it been, say, Alonso or Vettel having blocked Hamilton, or Hamilton having blocked one of them for that matter..

Also very sad to see the Saubers disqualified after such an amazing performance. Did the penalty fit the crime? Did they gain such an advantage from it? Don't have a clue, someone please enlighten us.

[i70q7m7ghw]

I think he was lucky today to not be hauled up for this.

He's lucky because as the Technical Report http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/f1 ... report.pdf says, the car 03 wasn't checked for skidblock thickness at all...

Must be a typo because then he's the only car in the top 10 that wasn't checked, all points scoring cars get checked from what I understood.

[andrew]

And what about him sticking his hand under the chassis and apparently tampering with the damage? That is definately dodgy!

I'm pretty sure someone would of noticed him swapping the plank for a new one, what was he going to do with the old one, tuck it down his trousers?

Joke all you like. The car was in parc ferme conditions and a driver has no business touching it once they get out and replace the steering wheel.

Apologies for the poor quality photos, but this is definately dodgy. I'm with David Coulthard on this one.

says, the car 03 wasn't checked for skidblock thickness at all...

Bizzare that car No. 3 was not checked. I doubt it is a typo as these things will be checked and rechecked. The luck of the devil indeed.

[ESPImperium]

A front floor deflection test was carried out 100mm left of the car centre line on car numbers 01 and 10.

Only Vettel and Petrov got tested for the T Tray deflection test.

Scrutineers can choose no to carry out a test or not, as its at the stewards discretion.

[myurr]

It wasn't checked due to an obvious failure of that part. Teams are allowed to tinker with the cars and even replace damaged parts before scrutineering as long as it's clear that it's because of a failure or crash damage, and it has been done many times in the past by many different teams.

There is nothing unusual about it beyond a few people getting their knickers in a twist because they're focussed on a single rule in isolation. Funny how many of these same people claim Red Bull's flexing front wing is legal because they look at the test rules in isolation...

[myurr]

As much as I would have liked to see a Ferrari on the podium, this would certainly not have been the way I'd like to see it happen. Therefore good decision not to disqualify Lewis for that in my opinion, as it definitely did not give him any advantage.

Not so sure about the warning he and the Mercedes duo got after qualifying though. They either blocked or they didn't. If they did, why not a grid penalty as we've seen so many times in the past? Imagine how this thread would look like had it been, say, Alonso or Vettel having blocked Hamilton, or Hamilton having blocked one of them for that matter..

Also very sad to see the Saubers disqualified after such an amazing performance. Did the penalty fit the crime? Did they gain such an advantage from it? Don't have a clue, someone please enlighten us.

+1 - although with the blocking I don't think the details have been released so it could be that they didn't cause drivers to fail to make it through to the next qualifying round, or there were extenuating circumstances like it being in an area with poor visibility and no room to let another car past, etc.

[WhiteBlue]

An enjoyable Grand Prix it was. The talking has stopped and the action begun. We look at essentially the same situation at the top as we did for the last five 2010 races. Total domination of Red Bull/Vettel. I just love it the way he proves all his critics wrong. Seb was again much faster than his team mate, in a class of his own. He delivered a nice overtaking move when he had to, so well done to him and the team.

Hamilton did not disappoint and McLaren pulled the rabbit out of the hat while the red cars looked very average for a top team. Alonso was fighting hard after a bad start.

Petrov was a star in the race and did a very solid job. No criticism for him at all. He comprehensively outclasses his very experienced team mate in qualifying and in the race.

Button and Massa were good for early entertainment and demonstrated that the DRS seems to be ok the way they have designed it. I'd rather have less aero to help overtaking but in the absences of that I'll take the DRS rather than nothing.

A shame for Mercedes and particularly Rosberg who was taken out by a stupid move. Rubens is too old to do such stunts. I suspect Williams will suffer at the Frankfurt exchange tomorrow due to the result. Perhaps another €2 off the stock price that is already under €20.

Well done also to Virgin and team Lotus. They did a good job over the winter. That cannot be said for Hispania. A shame that they had to miss the race but the 107% rule is fair and equitable. They blew their chance and have to carry the blame for it.