The FIA revises blocking penalties

so, whats the whole point?

 

Sounds like the buck stops with Whiting. And if you complain about his decision, I think he is a doctor, he will cut off your, uh........complaint.

But if you read further, the part about the scientific evidence, it sounds like he agreed with the telemetry showing Alonso did impead Massa.

 

LoL..i would love to see the fun starts. does this also means, blocking like JV's antics at germany on fisi...will be penalized?

 

The FIA clarification boils down to:

"SHUT UP RENAULT AND GET BACK TO RACING!"

 

I think though Luis, you should include that latter statement referring to scientific evidence, as that is the sentence SpeedTV is referring to as a clear dig to Renault. Telemetry, the scientific evidence sealed Alonso's fate.

I agree with you that it was not intentional, and should not have been a penalty on Alonso. But then the rules do not require that an infraction be intentional, so I think this new guideline is a bandaid to fix that aspect of the rules. The infraction will have to be clearly intentional, or proven by scientifc evidence.

That sort of leaves the door wide open for Whiting.

 

I hope you are right Luis.

 

Hi Luis,
The line above does restate the stewards findings, that Alonso did interfere with Massa.

(Ok, now they have changed the ball game to say, that intent to interfere, is exclusively the deciding factor, in whether to convene a hearing of stewards. This, in my estimations, does not clear the matter up entirely. There are situations, that I can see where this can still be problematic.)

Under the revised rule, it could be deemed as intent to interfere, when Alonso didn't get the F out of the way. Even though he was late for his train

Bill

 

What I understand in that FIA statment is quite different. I understand that what the FIA says is that there must exist evidence that the blocking is intentional, they already asume that there must be evidence of blocking.

Under this clarification Alonso would be free of charges as there was no evidence that he could have blocked Massa intentionaly.

- Julio.

 

With all respect Julio, I would think that would still be a judgement call.

By the timing data, Alonso did slow Massa down, now the stewards have to decide if intent was clearly indicated, IN THEIR OPINION. I can only imagine that their conclusion was not 100% clearly indicated intent, which might be why he got a lenient penalty. He only lost his top 3 Q laps, not all of them.

Just as intent was a judgement call, in MS's incident at Monaco, where they must have decided there was more reason to find intent, because they took away all of his Q laps.

If you ask the driver, of course he'll always say, "Hell no, I didn't INTEND to slow him down, I was going as fast as I could." But if you would believe that, with all of the brake and steering testing going on this year, LOL!!!

Regards,
Bill

 

My only concern is; will this ruling make it easier for actual real blocking to occur where its near impossible to pass now in equal cars.

 

Hi Luis,
Yes, it is an open session, but in the open session, drivers that are not on their Q laps are required to get out of the way of those who are. Old rule or new rule. If Alonso was on his Q lap, there wouldn't have been any problem.

You and a number other people keep saying he didn't interfere because Massa wasn't right on his tail. That is not the case with Q laps. Racing with someone during Q laps in being in the way, it is INTERFERING.

During the race everyone is entitled to their piece of the track, so to speak, unless they get a blue/yellow flag, this is not the case in qualifying, unless they also, are on their Q lap.

It's pretty simple, if you are not on your Q lap, you are supossed to get out of the way of those who are, it's courtesy and it is the rule.

Regards,
Bill

 

I like the rule from 'the Gentleman's Old School of Racing'.

It goes like this:

- 'What goes around, comes around, you block me, I will block you - at some point, maybe now, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, month or year, but one day I will block you'.


OK, beyond all of that, why don't they make it harder to 'block' someone ?
If you know you are in a Q session with X driver, and he is faster than you, it's kinda hard to stay out of the way.

Maybe lengthen or create more 'timed practice sessions' is the way to go ?
Then the problem becomes motor longevity.....

But as it is now, it's not working very well (how they qualify), same folks are starting in the same positions.

How about dump qualifying altogether and go into heat races ? Wouldn't that be a gas ?

 

Luis,
I guess you have ignored the lap times, that I have posted for Massa and Alonso's Q3 laps. I will post them here again...

That OH WOW, highly impressive, 1:25.688 that Alonso posted, for his Q3 lap time, would have landed him in the 24th position, between two Super-Aguri. How could he not have been in the way, while on a warm up lap to that astounding time, to someone who is turning a 1:21.704??? And Massa was over .5 second slower than in previous Q1 and Q2 sessions.

Please think about it, and try to explain that.

You and I, have not viewed the telemetry data collected, that the race stewards and Whiting feel is conclusive in demonstrating that Alonso did indeed negatively impact (read impede) Massa's Q3 Lap.

Alonso and Briatore have also admitted he impeded Massa, why can't you??

Regards,
Bill

 

This is a really stupid way to have qualifying anyway.

In 1982, there was a pretty famous driver that was on a hot lap, came across a slower car, and he got killed.

They either need to have longer practice sessions (you don't have to go out for ALL of them) and time all of your laps (like the old days), or, you can all shoot me: go to single car qualifying like most other forms of motorsports do.

What will it take, a few folks getting killed, or hurt, or destroyed equipment ?

Lastly, the LAST thing we need is some folks out running practice laps at 97% and being forced to watch their mirrors every second, that is a recipe for disaster in itself: spending more time worried about what is behind you than you are your own driving.

 

I agree wholeheartedly!!

 

Whiting is an idiot. He should have thrown this ridiculous claim from Massa right out the window.

But I'm not surprised, he was one of Mad Max' henchmen in the USGP05 FIAsco. He was against a chicane. What a doorknob.

 

At this risk of going off topic, it sounds like you are in favor of modifying a track after cars/drivers have practiced, been setup and qualified. That does not sound fair at all.

 

We are OT, but let me quickly answer: The USGP05 desaster was Michelin's fault, no doubt. The race was lost to the Michelin runners, fact. But there was absolutely no need to loose the show and frustrate the fans. Easy solution: Put a tire barrier in turn #13 and give the first 6 points paying positions to the Bridgestone cars irrespective of where they end up in the race.
=> The show could have been saved, the sponsors would have been happy seeing their cars run, the fans still had a race and for the Michelin equipped teams 3 championship points were still up for grasp. But no, egos had to prevail. Including Mr. Whiting's.