Penaltys that Mclaren received this Weekend?

Question

Hamilton's stop and go penalty was ridiculous and by far the wrong choice, just my argument is why was the penalty given? he overtook Vettel b4 he went off the track therefore he did not gain a place so my opinion is the FIA punished Mclaren for being a threat in the race

Heikki Q1 got in someones way so did Nakajima but yet Mclaren got Penalized for blocking Webber however no advantage or disadvantage was gained he got through to Q2 so that was a pointless penalty i would agree with it if Webber didnt make it into Q2 but what are the FIA doing

His Grid Penalty technically cost him 3points with Kimi's Problems, instead of Heikki getting 5points he could easy got the 8points

Answer 1

Hamilton's penalty was fair and it could have been avoided.  All he had to do was let Vettel re-pass him.  Even though Hamilton passed Vettel on the track, he was going at such a rate of speed that he had to go off the track.

Even if you successfully pass and then go off to consolidate that place or hold that place, you can be punished.

Hamilton looked totally ragged today.  The speed he was carrying into the move on Vettel could have taken out three-cars (himself, Vettel, DC).  The penalty he got was fair, but had he just moved over, let Vettel by again, we wouldn't be talking about this.

I can't comment on Heikki and Nakajima yesterday because I missed qualy.

Answer 2

Lewis had already overtook Vettel when he ran wide so the penalty was harsh.  Heiki's penalty was harsh because it didn't cause any problem to Webber and he still made it to Q2.  Does anyone else see a pattern here?  McLaren seem to be getting all the flack, whereas Ferrari (Kimi running into Sutil in Monaco and his exhaust falling off today) don't seem to be noticed by the stewards - they have a blind spot with red cars!

Answer 3

This question again........

. Hamiltons penalty seems harsh ( French GP, can't be criticising Canada) he did overtake Vettel on track, but would of hit DC if he stayed on track as he was going way too fast, he went off track (good) but should of let Vettel by and raced on to 6Th place. Kovalinen let Trulli by doing the same thing but hes a little less hot headed.

. I agree Kovalinens penalty is undeserved as he had no where to go, did his best which Nakajima didn't. The supposed hold up didn't affect Webber as he had another lap, got into the top 10 and would of started 8Th.

Answer 4

He didn't get a stop and go! He got a drive through penalty which was the most lenient option out of these three:

10 place drop at next grand prix

10 sec stop and go

Drive through penalty

And even though he had overtaken Vettel, he went off track to maintain his position, which he would have lost otherwise, thats why he was given the drive through!

I will not deny though, that Heikki was served a penalty that Nakajima too should have recieved.

And to comments about Raikkonen, ripping off the exhaust pipe would have done more damage than letting it fall off.

Answer 5

err it was not a stop go penalty, he was moving like a bullet past vettel and would not have been able to consolidate his position had he stayed on track, get over it you should be happy mclaren are not relagated to the last garage for the rest of 2008

Answer 6

1. Hamilton only overtook Vettel because of the excess speed he carried into the corner - which in turn caused him to run wide. So that was fair enough.

2. Kovalainen probably had more of a case to be upset over his penalty, but rules are rules. Everybody knows the rules, and if they don't like them they don't have to join in the fun.

Seeing how Kovalainen tends to drive so much better when he starts down the grid, and blows it when he's running near the front from the start, he probably wouldn't have done any better if he had started 6th.

Answer 7

McLaren are lucky to be contesting the championship at all.

I'm surprised you haven't said Hamilton is been picked on because he is black instead of ignorant of rules.

Answer 8

I totally agree with you...I sometimes think that FIA is unfair...Kimi may had caused a damage to another driver because of his exhaust...he should go to the pits immediately and then leave the race...he shouldn't keep on driving...what if he was on fire?

Lewis shouldn't be punished with a 10-place penalty...he made a mistake in Montreal, he lost the race (he could had won) and that was enough punishment for him...Kimi wasn't punished when he destroyed Adrian Sutil's race in Monaco (he was 4th - probably the best result in his career)...

Heikki, of course, shouldn't be punished...he was in front of Webber, but this didn't caused him anything, he went to the Q2...and, if Heikki should be punished, why shouldn't Nakajima be punished too...he made the same mistake as Heikki..

Anyway, talking about this won't change anything...McLaren's weekend in Magny-Cours was destroyed by the FIA who, probably, help Ferrari...

Answer 9

He got ahead of Vettel but he went straight through the corner.  It didn't look deliberate but if he'd braked through the chicane like he should have, he would have not been able to complete that move.  He should have given Vettel back the place, then he would not have been given the penalty which was not harsh at all,  the stewards could have just as easily given him a stop/go penalty but instead, he only got a drive through.

Answer 10

1: Hamilton's of track excursion was a little harsh, he was past the STR.

Kimi`s qualifying lap was completed with all 4 wheels off of the race track, but the rules were then bent into a shape that accommodated the Ferraris. i.e. `Charlie says that 4 wheels over the `green` at the last corner is the new interpretation` meaning `over the hard surface beyond the white line and onto the real grass` this was quite clearly heard over Williams` radio link to Rosberg.

Even Star Sports commentary team, which always keeps it`s nose well out of any politicking said, "if he gets a penalty for that it would look like victimisation".

4:  Heiki`s penalty too was not `justice seen to be done`, he was singled out as a McLaren driver, simply and obviously because he was just that `a McLaren driver`.

He did all that he could to avoid slowing Webber, he couldn`t just disappear could he ?

Last years spy scandal was heard in the courts of the FIA and the punishment was given out, it seems that part of the punishment will be a season long slow motion kicking of McLaren.

To the benefit of the team in red...

Kimi`s exhaust was hanging loose and could quite possibly have presented a danger to other drivers, officials or spectators, (it shot off, eventually, in a reasonably spectacular manner after all) but it was deemed safe by the stewards.

Who knows if any other team might have been called in with a black flag ?

There is much more to this nasty stain on F1`s character than meets the eye and none of us will ever know all of the facts.