Kimi's dangly exhaust?

Question

I was just wondering if the stewards or somebody should have called him in to have it sorted out. I don't know if the bit that flew off was heavy enough to hurt someone but if it was hot enough to burn through carbon fiber and the shell of the car, it could have been very dangerous if it had come off and landed in some other drivers lap, spectators or around the pit area. Isn't this the sort of thing the stewards should be paying attention to?

Answer 1

He probably should have been black-flagged as it was still dangling outside of the car. Plenty of examples of drivers getting stopped for things which weren't dangerous as they were, but could have been if they fell off. Ferrari should have pulled it off at Raikkonen's second pitstop anyway.

Answer 2

All the answerers to date have missed the basic issue: he was driving a Ferrari so the rules don't apply.  (I haven't seen the race yet since it isn't shown in the US for another 45 minutes).  But an exhaust- even a section of exhaust.  At 180mph.  Remember Tom Pryce in South Africa??

Edit 1: For Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: if Ferrari could not remove the flapping exhaust without causing even further danger to other competitors then Kimi should have been retired.  It's really easy but Ferrari fans actually seem to think that the rules SHOULD be different for them.  It's a bit like my kids when they were little . . .

Edit 2: I find myself half agreeing with Robb BDC for the first time in living memory LOL.  But the difference is that with a broken nose, the drivers come in asap as they are losing pace.  In this case, Ferrari kept the car out there for 5 laps [before the exhaust fell off by itself] since the risk was to everyone else on the track, not to Kimi.  It will set a dangerous precedent if no penalty is assessed against Ferrari.  Maybe the penalty will be 10 grid spots for both McLarens LOL.  

Regardless of team penalties, whoever provides the umbrella insurance for the races will be sure to clarify this for future races and will require that such cars are promptly black flagged or the risk is borne by (a) Max (b) Bernie (c) the track.  None of them are dumb enough to take that scale of risk.

Answer 3

I feel he should have been called in with the black/orange flag, regardless of the fact that the race was nearly over. Kimi could have hurt himself or someone else badly (or both). I can't understand why no-one called him in! I think there should be some sort of penalty for Kimi or his team.

Answer 4

He should have been called in for repairs, had it come off and hit another driver it would not make for good TV to put it that way.

Or it could have devastated some driver to put it another.

Answer 5

I see what people are saying but if he gets black flagged for this then they will start black flagging when noses get snapped!

Answer 6

Yes, shoud of pitted and had it removed, if it came off in a slow corner when Vettel was right behind, I hate to think what might of happened.....

Answer 7

Given the recent history, what do you think would have happened if the same had occured on a McLaren?  My bet is a definate flag or points deduction.

Give me as many thumbs down as you like....Ferrari, yet again escape the stewards and this time someone could have been seriously hurt.  

I'm a huge fan of F1 but it's starting to get a bit silly.

Answer 8

I will answer by saying yes, he should have been brought in. However, I feel that the real questions are; would there have been a criminal charge brought against the Ferrari team if not bringing him in had resulted in someones death? Would the "powers" have had to bring in the QC's to get away with it? What would the "Max regime" have done if it was McLaren's "black" driver's exhaust? Is F1 still a sport? Will these questions be answered by the FIA  itself in judging the incident, or will it go ignored?

Answer 9

Na if it really was a danger they would have called him in obvs. I think it looked worse than it was, i mean i know it practically melted his car, but i dont think it was that much of a danger to kimi or to others.

Answer 10

I think he should of had it removed before under an orange flag

But definately should have been fixed when he pitted for tyres and fuel

Rules for one and rules for the Ferraris

Answer 11

Martin Brundle said he thought that Kimi should have had an orange and black flag to stop him and I agree, when that exahust finally broke off, it could have caused someone a lot of damage.  But once again, Ferrari seem to be the most slippery of all the teams - nothing seems to stick to them.  Raikonen should be penalised for continuing to drive with the exhaust flapping about like it did.  Give him a 10 place penalty.

Answer 12

Yes, he should've been called into the pits to have the problem rectified.

If Ferrari couldn't remove the component without causing further damage - how come wind resistance did manage this?

This piece of red-hot exhaust isn't the same as a wing being snapped off.  When a wing comes off, the driver pits as soon as possible and gets it replaced.  They don't run around at nearly full speed waiting for it to snap off (well, not in F1).

Ferrari (and the race stewards) where very luck that when it did finally come off it didn't land in a drivers lap, or worse in the crowd.

And, although I'm sure the piece was made of some elaborate alloy that costs thousand of pounds/dollars an ounce - but how much did the car weigh when the race finished?   The cars are usually so close to the minimum that loosing a couple of Kgs could easily push it under the limit...

Answer 13

All this FIA bias thing is getting old

First of all, Kimi too has been given drive through penalty because the team did not put his wheel on on-time. Any driver who break the rules gets those drive through penalty fair and square.

This black flag due to mechanical issues, or orange flag is not as clear cut as other rules. When was the last time we see the orange flag? Compare that to the number of times driver drives around in a less than perfect car.

Remember once during Monaco, where Sato was driving around with his engine releasing fumes? He was never given any flag. He was allowed to run until his engine really blows up

Secondly, the spectator and track marshals are in no more danger than they are from an accident. An accident has more risk of throwing up debris and wheels in all direction. That is what those tall fence are for.

Its not easy to force a car to pit or blackflag due to certain techical issues. That's why we hardly see that rule being used at all

Just because its Ferrari, it doesn't meant the FIA or stewards are being biased. Tha same applies for other teams, they are hardly orange or black flagged due to technical issues

Don;t compare Lewis the Almighty penalty to this one. Its not the same issue at all.

Answer 14

Ripping off the exhaust pipe and sending him back out would have resulted in more chaos, because even more bits of shrapnel would have been coming off his car.

Ferrari made the right call, leaving the pipe to come off gradually, than causing more damage by taking it off.

Answer 15

That is the big question, why they allowed Raikkonen to continue racing despite of his faulty exhaust pipe that might harm those drivers behind.

He should be waved a Black w/ Orange circle flag.

(It warns a driver that he has a mechanical problem and must return to his pit.)

Answer 16

Dang! I had a power failure just as the race started. So I missed the race. But I managed to read later that he had an exhaust problem. Not sure what that's about. I'll be back after I catch a delayed/repeat telecast. Won't comment just yet

Edit: Ok, just finished a delayed telecast

Well, it was dangerous. It was clanking about and there was then danger of it flying off. It could've just flown off anytime and hit someone hard in the face. (That could cause serious injury due to the speed of the flying exhaust and the speed of the driver)

And it did fly off but fortunately no one was right behind him. Otherwise there would be a safety car and maybe even a red flag. If he hadn't had tht exhaust problem he might've won the race. This is a serious safety issue and I think the stewards will be looking into this.

part of his car was burnt off and luckily there wasn't a fire. However, the danger was there. It was dangerous for other drivers, people around the track and himself included. The stewards should have brought the car in to have it fixed. But just as dangerous was Bourdais' (?) rear wing lying in the middle of the track. It was not on the racing line but if anyone missed and ran over it....

Answer 17

I think he should have been forced to pit under threat of a black flag.  Perhaps in a few hours we will know for sure if his 2nd place stands, but the stewards should have called him.  Another team may try to cause a stink and get Kimi stripped of pts.  

At the 2005 Aussie GP Ferrari had bits of body work dangling off the car (broken sidepods I think) and they were called in to get it fixed.

Answer 18

IMO he should have been called in and had it removed or have been made to retire. Before the thumbs down start, that would have been my opinion whatever car it had happened to and not just because it was a Ferrari. IMO it could have been a dangerous situation. Rocketman is right when he says to look at Tom Pryce. That was a freak accident that resulted in 2 people's death. an exhaust pipe like that hurtling off into the face of another driver or into the crowds could have had terrible consequences. Another thing, when he pitted there was a member of the pit crew there with a fire extinguisher just in case! I could barely watch in case Kimi went up in flames, that would have been horrible.