rdbozz99 wrote: ↑17 Jul 2017, 05:06
I believe I must be writing in some unknown language. I get it - that if the regs say A and one does B - there is a violation of the regs. What I’m desperately trying to get at here I presume is why the regulation? It implies that there has been wrongdoing by the driver, the team, or both. OR, perhaps I simply don’t understand the reasoning with the regulation. If a new gbox exactly like the old one gives an advantage AND that is the only reason to replace - then the penalty takes on some meaning. And I promise not to beat this horse any further.
If a driver commits a driving offence and is penalised should the team have to pay too?
Mercedes have been using, apparently, a very aggressive shift strategy, which has damaged the gears. That is why Hamilton's box was changed in Austria and Bottas' in Britain.
They run the aggressive shift strategy to gain performance. The driver benefits from that performance, so it is fair that he also suffers the consequences of having to change the gearbox.
That said, it would not be horrible to change to a system where 4 gearboxes can be used per year, and they can be rotated. There is a complicating factor this year in that one ratio change through the year has been allowed.