They say that consequences have no impact on the penalties, that each incident is considered in isolation, and who the driver is does not matter. However we have proof that that's not always true. So the FIA contradicts themselves....gshevlin wrote: ↑20 Jul 2021, 19:27The idea that the punishment should not be related to the severity of the impact is a nice one, but you have to consider what would have happened if Max had been knocked unconscious, and then it emerged that he had a hematoma and needed emergency surgery and was out of racing for months.
In that scenario, I find it impossible to believe that the FIA and Liberty could survive the PR impact of saying that the initial 10 second time penalty was all they would be levying as punishment.
https://www.racefans.net/2012/09/02/gro ... ner-crash/
https://www.racefans.net/2012/12/08/gro ... explained/Grosjean car struck Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari dangerously close to the cockpit. Four drivers were eliminated in the crash, including Grosjean, Hamilton, Alonso and Sergio Perez. Kamui Kobayashi’s car was also badly damaged.
The Lotus driver was also fined €50,000 for the collision.
The stewards explained the penalty as follows: “The stewards regard this incident as an extremely serious breach of the regulations which had the potential to cause injury to others. It eliminated leading championship contenders from the race.
IA Institute deputy president Garry Connelly, who served as a steward at the several races this year including the Belgian Grand Prix, explained the thinking behind Grosjean’s ban:
“That incident could have completely changed the outcome of the FIA’s premier championship. But what Romain got the extra penalty for was not that, or at least not wholly for that.
“When you’re a relatively new driver to Formula One and you have the privilege of driving in a potentially winning or podium finish car, you’re mixing it with a group of drivers who have many years more experience than you do at the sharp end of the field.
“It therefore behoves you, in our view, to exercise greater care and attention because you are, in our view, with all due respect, the new kid on the block and maybe a little out of your league compared with the guys around you at that end of the grid.