If one is driving 50 MPH and one sees an object, such as a shin in front of it, and one has carbon brakes and the reflexes of a formula one driver--the best in the world--then it is highly unlikely that one will hurt someone else under these circumstances. Traveling at 50 MPH, provides time to avoid any unplesantness. It does not mean you will run headlong into a shin without braking. In fact, that is exactly what happened . . . no one was hurt, except the doosh-bags at F-1 who imposed this penalty.
Taking the attitude that this is okay because it's F1, as some here are saying, completely misses the point. I would argue that it's precisely because this is F1, with "best in the world" drivers, that this penalty needs to be imposed. With hundreds of millions of people watching, some of them racers or aspiring racers, F1 has a responsibility to show that stopping a car on track and walking onto the track, even on the cool-down lap, are bonehead moves and deserving of disciplinary action. Had Alonso pulled off-track to allow Webber to hitch a ride, it would have been a completely different matter, and this is what I initially assumed to have occurred. I would have been very interested to hear David Hobbs' reaction had he seen, on the live feed, what actually happened.
Who cares! Would have been a far more interesting GP if LH had hit the back of Alonso. So boring I fell asleep watching a replay of the race. Pete
