CHICANE CUTTING ISSUE: FIA Asked By GPDA For Better Solution

(from autosport)

The FIA has been asked by Formula One drivers to find a better solution to the problems caused by chicane cutting in the wake of the Lewis Hamilton Spa controversy.

With Hamilton having lost his appeal over the penalty he was handed for gaining an advantage by cutting a chicane in the Belgian Grand Prix, there remains some unease about the expected driver etiquette in similar situations.

Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) chairman Pedro de la Rosa thinks there has to be a better option to punish drivers for cutting chicanes, rather than the current guideline of handing back positions.

"The bottom line is that there is the need to find a better solution that keeps everyone happy," he told autosport.com. "We have spoken with Charlie (Whiting) and the FIA, and they are looking for a solution as well."

Chicane cutting has become a modern day issue because of the wide-open asphalt run off areas that now surround corners. Mistakes by drivers result in them simply running off the circuit without penalty and resuming further up the road.

De la Rosa admits there is a difficulty in finding an answer as to how to design chicanes whereby they are both safe and do not encourage drivers to cut across them.

"At the moment we have the best compromise," he said. "We all push for the asphalt run-offs, but one of the downsides of that is that you can cut corners without being penalised as much as with gravel or grass. So it's not all positive, but safety is first.

"We have that because it's the safest measure, so the second step is to make sure that if a driver jumps a chicane he gets a proper time loss so there is no controversy. That is the main objective. But the GPDA perspective is just about safety.

"I have nothing to say about jumping chicanes. We are happy with the run-off areas because we pushed for them, and now it is up to the FIA to find a solution to get proper time loss for a driver that jumps a chicane, not the GPDA."

De la Rosa does not believe that the wider use of speed bumps to hinder drivers who cut across chicanes would improve matters.

"It depends where you locate those. They should never be on the run-off areas, because it makes the car jump. But I am sure that there are other ways, or placing them in other areas. We are very happy with the asphalt, it is a massive step forward, but you cannot have all positives."




For anyone that missed it, this is the complete transcript of the McLaren/Spa incident hearing in Paris last Monday:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=215128