BAR to face penalty

[anonymous-user]

i am absolutely gobsmacked to read on the bbc webpage that BAR may face a penalty at this weekends grand prix becasue they did not finish the race.

someone at the FIA was quoted as saying "there is a distinct difference between failing to finish nad choosing to finish". Well i quote agree but I fail how to see how they can prove BAR chose not to finish as BAR could just turn round and say "we had reaon to believe the engine would explode" or words to that effect. So now the FIA will try to impose a 10 grid position penalty.

Formula one is becoming a farce....

[Alex]

Serves the FIA right for fiddling with the rules every season, BAR were just exploiting a loophole. Fair play to 'em, I say.

[FourWheelDrift]

Hmmmm. Strange they might change the rules then back track them to penalise BAR when they let Ferrari & McLaren off for their team tactics now considered bad form and likely to recieve penalties at Jerez & Melbourne (McLaren) and Austria & Hockenheim (Ferrari).

[d-man]

Are we now going to see people intentionally crashing or blowing engines in the last couple of laps if they've no chance of points? That'll be nice and safe then.

Very strange that they choose to punish the BARs and not Ferrari too. Schumacher retired not because of damage, but because 'there was no point in continuing'. Surely he should face the same engine change penalty? Or maybe the FIA had a word in Ferrari's ear, let them know about the upcoming change and suggested they don't change engines. Smacks of the usual FIA bias anyway. You can bet if the 2 red cars had done this it'd all be perfectly fine.

[richb]

The running of F1 is an absolute disgrace, I don't recollect anyone complaining last year when Stoddart pulled both his cars off without finishing their qualification lap in order to save fuel, or some such nonsense. Why the hell can't they just let the bloody things race - fastest car wins instead of all these ridiculous ill-conceived rules supposed to generate more interest all they do is kill it off once and for all Rich...

[rallysanf]

This issue highlights the ridiculous state FI is at the moment. The FIA must have know about this loop hole, they should take it that BAR exploited it, close it and deal with the future (good on BAR). It will be fun seeing how the FIA prove that BAR pulled out both cars, and that they din't have mecanical problems.
I would think BAR will end up in court as Minardi did defending their position. Well done FIA another fine mess......

[FourWheelDrift]

Bit more here..

Grand Prix.com said:

The rules concerning two-race engines have been re-interpreted by the FIA. The original rule stated that "each driver may use no more than one engine for two consecutive events. Should it become necessary for a driver to use another engine he will drop ten places on the starting grid at that event and may not use another engine until the end of the next event. Any driver who failed to finish the race at the first of the two events may start the second with a different engine without incurring a penalty." In the course of the winter teams requested on several occasions clarification to make sure that they would be allowed to stop their cars if they were out of the points in order to get a new engine at the next race. They were told that this was acceptable. Now the interpretation is different. "As a result of what happened on the last lap of the race in Melbourne a distinction will now be made between failing to finish and choosing not to finish, the former is normally accidental or beyond the control of the driver while the latter is not. In order to ensure the purpose of the regulation is fully respected, and unless the reason is completely clear, in future we will require the team of any driver who fails to finish the first of two races to explain the circumstances surrounding the retirement to the Stewards of the meeting". It is not clear why the decision has been made to change the rules but Toyota, in particular, has been making a lot of noise about what happened in Melbourne.

Just because Toyota didn't think of it as well.

>> Edited by FourWheelDrift on Wednesday 16th March 14:12

[rlk500]

You see.......Major manufacturer involvement, Toyota v Honda both vying for the same turf in their homelands, the FIA should kick all the manufacturers out, and we should get back to the garagiste era.....too many vested interests now.

[flemke]

FourWheelDrift said:

Just because Toyota didn't think of it as well.

No offense, but it's unlikely that Toyota or any other team didn't think of this. It's a pretty obvious ploy.
As soon as the two-race rule was affirmed last autumn, the question was raised in the media (and therefore must have already been raised by the teams) of whether a team might pull its cars just before the chequered flag. Charlie Whiting said at the time that any such action would be "looked at very closely by the FIA". That seemed a clear warning not to abuse the intent of the rule (poorly drafted though it may be).
During the Aus. GP broadcast the other week Brundle directly observed that by pulling its cars BAR might be risking a response by the FIA.
It may well be that Schumacher retired for the same reason as the BARs did. In his case, however, he retired well before the end of the race, his car actually was damaged in a racing incident, and he didn't give the game away by stating unambiguously that he retired simply to manipulate the two-race rule.
In contrast, Nick Fry made it abundantly clear - in an almost mocking way - that the BARs had been pulled simply and only to enable them to get fresh engines. It cannot be surprising that the FIA was unimpressed.

I yield to no man in my contempt for the FIA, while I've got nothing against BAR. In this case, however, BAR's on-track behaviour was blatant and its explanation was clumsy.

[Pies]

So the next trick will be to find the biggest gravel trap ......

[Piglet]

Pies said:

So the next trick will be to find the biggest gravel trap ......

Nah, it's got to be possible either to send a "self destruct" signal to the car or for the driver to alter the car settings to break it.

It's just all so bloody pointless, as Rich said above, can they not just race the bloody cars and stop faffing around with the rules and reg's, tyres, aero packs etc., run what you like and the fastest guy wins!

[2 Smokin Barrels]

Not as daft as Schumacher winning the British GP in the pit lane taking penalty! They are arses aren't they.

(The organisers I mean)

>> Edited by 2 Smokin Barrels on Wednesday 16th March 20:54

[Robbo1]

Bit disappointed with BAR's attitude, but I guess that's Formula 1 these days.
Schumacher's case is far more tricky, and really opens up Pandora's box. If a car is "damaged" and the driver decides it's unwise to continue, who's going to decide whether he's just parking it for a free engine change?
If I were a lawyer, I'd be looking to get myself involved in F1 sharpish!