FIA rewrites the rules to clarify the Alonso incident

[FourWheelDrift]

Crash.net said:

FIA race director Charlie Whiting has written to all eleven Formula One teams outlining a revision of the blocking rules in light of the controversy surrounding the decision to demote Fernando Alonso five places on the grid for the Italian Grand Prix.

The championship leader was dropped from fifth to tenth at Monza after he was judged to have impeded Felipe Massa in qualifying, albeit unintentionally, and was therefore punished accordingly, angering Alonso and Renault, as well as many of their rivals.

Indeed, Renault boss Flavio Briatorie has been vocal about the situation and the advantage it gave Ferrari over the weekend, particularly after Alonso, who admitted he did consider not racing in protest, was eventually forced out by an engine failure, reportedly brought on by the fact he was having to push harder than usual.

With slurs of 'fixing' and general confusion over the final details of blocking, the FIA have moved to re-word the rules to penalise a driver according to whether they deliberately block another counterpart.

"Only in cases where it appears to race control that there has been a clear and deliberate attempt to impede another driver will the stewards be asked to intervene," Whiting wrote, according to the BBC.

Blocking has proved to be a controversial matter this season, particularly with the new qualifying system that has inevitably led to increases in traffic and therefore complaints. Things were expected to be made easier by having a single steward throughout the season, although course officials still provide input.

Nonetheless, despite the general lambasting they received from the majority of the grid, the FIA continues to frown upon claims that they have been aiding Ferrari's cause this year, with Whiting suggesting that Renault should witness their evidence before exerting a media fuelled opinion.

"We now feel it is pointless for the stewards to engage in long and painstaking enquiries if competitors ignore clear scientific evidence and instead abuse the regulator," referring to the reigning champions.

The bit in bold is what I find odd, the single qualifying lap methods was only used breifly, before it was a free for all albeit on limited laps and now it's a free for all again. The drivers know how to give themseleves space on track for a lap and if they mess up, they mess up. Tough, that's racing. Of course deliberate blocking can be easily spotted as can blocking a corner with a stationary car to prevent anyone else going quicker and should continue to be punished, but cars running flat out sepereated by 100m is not and never has been blocking.

Edited by FourWheelDrift on Saturday 16th September 11:28

[kevin ritson]

Reminds me all too much of the Italian GP in 1976, they admitted they may have been wrong a few days after that, too...but the race was done and dusted by then...

[anonymous-user]

It all smells of dog shite if you ask me! If I was Renault I would be fuming!!!

[Piglet]

FourWheelDrift said:

[quote=Crash.net]

"Only in cases where it appears to race control that there has been a clear and deliberate attempt to impede another driver will the stewards be asked to intervene," Whiting wrote, according to the BBC.

Nice try but entirely unenforceable surely?

If another team, let's say the red team thinks that their car was blocked by let's say a car run by the blue team and that the Race Director hasn't taken any action then under the normal judicial procedure the red team have the ability to put their money on the table and to appeal to the Stewards during the race weekend. The Stewards would then have to deal with the matter unless they are going to write a rule that says you can't protest on this issue which is frankly barking.

Nice try boys... but better to clarify that a car 100m ahead on the track can't be deemed to be impeeding a following car, oh no wait....

[flemke]

Isn't it fascinating that when it came to re-interpreting a rule when the new version favoured Ferrari (Hungarian chicane-cutting), the re-interpretation was made on the spot and justified later, but

when it came to re-interpreting a rule when the new version would have gone against Ferrari (Monza qual.), the re-interpretation was delayed for a week?

Just another freaky coincidence.

[mojocvh]

flemke said:

Isn't it fascinating that when it came to re-interpreting a rule when the new version favoured Ferrari (Hungarian chicane-cutting), the re-interpretation was made on the spot and justified later, but

when it came to re-interpreting a rule when the new version would have gone against Ferrari (Monza qual.), the re-interpretation was delayed for a week?

Just another freaky coincidence.

yep. anyway they (the team that is) will fall to tiny little infighting pieces next season so lets hope they LOSE by a POINT this year (both championships).

Bring it ON!!