turbof1 wrote:n smikle wrote:There are people paid to check the details for Charlie; it is unrealistic to expect him to memorise every single detail of the rules you know.
It actually isn't. He is the sport for years now, and the go-to guy to seek advice and approval. He should know all the details of the rules. That might sound unreasonable, but it isn't, given his job and experience.
indeed
Charlie Whiting (born 1952) is FIA Formula One Race Director, Safety Delegate, Permanent Starter and head of the F1 Technical Department, in which capacities he generally manages the logistics of each F1 Grand Prix, inspects cars in parc fermé before a race, enforces FIA rules, and controls the lights that start each race.
must know about the rules. If that is your job description, it's not that hard to actually learn the rules. he's had all winter to learn them by mind.
Charlie Whiting is the principal authority that regulates the sport, so adressing Charlie Whiting for information would be first base to know your research and efforts are according to the rules. If teams were told that Charlie Whiting is the guy you go to when you have questions or need clarifications on certain issues, then whatever good'ol Charlie tells you should be the right thing - beats the hell out of developing something and at the first race you hear 'that's not allowed' and then losing your entire project....so, you'd expect Charlie to actually KNOW what he's talking about.
unfortunately, indeed, that has - on several occasions - not been the case.
It's not the first time that a team had gone to Charlie for answers and had been misled. Think Spa 2008, Lewis passed Kimi by cutting through the chicane which was against the rule. Then Lewis conceded the position back to Kimi and that's when his team contacted Whiting to ask if the position had been given back in a satisfactory way. If I remember correctly, Whiting's answer at the time was "I think so". I think most of you know what happened afterwards. Whiting's response had misled McLaren to think that it was okay to repass Kimi right away and the stewards disagreed.
Same goes for the rear diffuser issue back in 2009. Charlies answer to Red Bull when Red Bull approached him earlier for clarification misled Red Bull to not produce the double decker diffuser that was being enjoyed by Brawn, Toyota and Williams.
but there is more, like the testing saga.
Both the team and tyre supplier insist that they were given approval to conduct the 1000km session at the Circuit de Catalunya with Mercedes' 2013 car, despite such an action being contrary to the F1 rulebook, which prohibits contemporary machinery from being employed lest it provide an unfair advantage at a time when in-season testing is expressly outlawed.
FIA race director and safety delegate Charlie Whiting granted permission for the W04 to be used as Pirelli attempted to get to grips with both a spate of tyre failures and preparations for 2014.
these examples, and tons more, prove that you can't trust Whiting's opinion. It proves that the governing body of the sport doesn't respect his opinion and that makes him look like an idiot sometimes. The only solution to this problem is for FIA to somehow ensure that whoever they appoint as the F1 race director is someone that can provide accurate information that is consistent with the thinking of the governing body that employs him.
If he needs to consult Todt or Ecclestone or the stewards every time a team approaches him with a question, then anybody can take his job as a race director, they might as well hire me!
