Spanish GP 2012 - Barcelona

[captainmorgan]

The penalty is a bit harsh, but it's likely ensured that it will not happen again, which is the very reason for applying any penalty.

If that were true, then any infraction should technically be punished by death.

[myurr]

When Vettel ran off track to make his way back to the pits, I think it was in Korea a year or two back, wasn't he let off from a severe penalty because when they examined the timings the stewards determined he crossed the line on his next run with 20 seconds to spare so didn't gain an advantage? In this instance didn't Lewis have more than enough time in hand and therefore didn't gain any advantage from what has basically been a mistake on the teams part?

But perhaps the FIA feel they should penalise one of the few drivers who actually went out and ran a normal qualifying, placing him behind all those that sat it out to save tyres. With all that disadvantage his only hope tomorrow will be if it's a wet race or if karma comes back to help him with a well timed safety car. Of course he'll then probably end up having another costly pit stop...

[simos]

"The fuel rig guy put the rig on, but he had the handle set to drain fuel. He discovered his mistake and switched it to put fuel in the car. But as a result he didn't put as much fuel in it as he should have. You have to be able to drive back to the pit-lane and have one litre of fuel left for the FIA to test. He went across the start-finish line 20 seconds before the chequered flag but if they had sat in the garage for three or four more seconds to get more fuel in, they still would have had time to cross the line and complete another flying lap. Sometimes I don't think McLaren think on their feet."

In all honesty, that looks like a fair mistake. They probably only noticed that they are low on fuel when he was already on track. Of course that also means they knew Hamilton will run out of fuel if they let him drive his last flying lap.
They probably thought they can get away with low penalty or by using force majeure exception.

[Guisson]

Pronostics :

1 : Kimi Raikonnen /Fernando Alonso
2 : Fernando Alonso/Kimi Raikonnen
3 : Romain Grosjean ?

[bhall]

The penalty is a bit harsh, but it's likely ensured that it will not happen again, which is the very reason for applying any penalty.

If that were true, then any infraction should technically be punished by death.

[jamsbong]

Lewis Hamilton will start last. Mclarens have the quali pace, why push the fuel to such limit? The wheelnut problem I can forgive but this one I can't. Mclaren just love to cheat.

I don't think it is harsh at all. Mclaren deserved it. I feel sorry for Lewis as he did everything by the book and his team let him down.

[ESPImperium]

Pronostics :

:arrow: 1 : Kimi Raikonnen /Fernando Alonso
:arrow: 2 : Fernando Alonso/Kimi Raikonnen
:arrow: 3 : Romain Grosjean ?

If simmilar conditions to today:

Schumacher/Maldanado/Button/Kimi for the win

If colder than today, posibly a little rain as well:

Perez/Alonso/Grosjean/Vettel

However i think there will be someone from lower down that has nothing to loose will consider a 4 stopper, someone will put an extra 10Kg in the tank and use 4 sets of new Pirellis work. Im thinking Senna could be a mover and a shaker in the race. He has something to prove, something to show since Maldanado is one Pole now.

[RobertPthe3rd]

The penalty was harsh. It wasn't Lewis's fault. The teams obviously. I mean you can even be a Mclaren hater and think it is harsh. I realize they are repeat offenders but lewis clearly had p1 in the bag. On that note congrats to Williams. I started watching f1 in 1997 or 1998 the first year my cable company had speed in the states and its great to see Maldonado (williams), who catches crazy flack for being a "pay" sponsored driver put it on pole. This season although totally dictated by tires has been extremely suspenseful. Artificial yes, Exciting, yes!

[Goran2812]

One other rule I'd add is that you HAVE to set a time in Q3, inside a certain percentage of some time or smth in that fashion... Sitting in the pits waiting for the clock to run out just so you can save a set of tires is moronic... I miss the old F1 so much... ;(

[Ray]

At the very outside extreme of penalties for this, they should strike Q3 results and demote to P11. Lewis doesn't deserve to be stripped of pole and dropped to the rear of the field. What a bunch of BS! He's not at fault for the mistake and at the very most severe he should be dropped to P11. I can't wait to see how he comes through the field and sincerely hope that there's not a dogpile at turn one and he makes it through okay.

[beelsebob]

Lewis Hamilton will start last. Mclarens have the quali pace, why push the fuel to such limit? The wheelnut problem I can forgive but this one I can't. Mclaren just love to cheat.

I don't think it is harsh at all. Mclaren deserved it. I feel sorry for Lewis as he did everything by the book and his team let him down.

Apparently the fueling mechanic put the hose on set to take fuel out of the car not put it in.

[motobaleno]

One other rule I'd add is that you HAVE to set a time in Q3, inside a certain percentage of some time or smth in that fashion... Sitting in the pits waiting for the clock to run out just so you can save a set of tires is moronic... I miss the old F1 so much... ;(

Me not!
it was immensely boring with respect to now...
wow each single race week end now is so full of drama and tactic moves!
sitting in the pit and waiting for the clock to run is estremely exciting if you put it in the right perspective of all the possible strategies.
a much richer variety with respect to past!
You have to go back to the seventies to find races where tactics were so important and infact in those days you had many different race winners during tha championships.
and you know what? also in those days you had tyre degradation as one of the key feature

[Mr.G]

Mclaren just love to cheat.

I don't think it is harsh at all. Mclaren deserved it. I feel sorry for Lewis as he did everything by the book and his team let him down.

+1

[Sjamaan]

Absolutely fair penalty. More so knowing that the infractor is a reoffender. It is really refreshing seeing that the FIA does the right thing for once, no matter who the infractor is. Good job.

[LionKing]

I think whether or not the performance advantage due to under-fueling would have changed the result is irrelevant. Otherwise any cheating attempt which turned out later to be unnecessary in hindsight need not be punished, which is of course can not be right.

I am not saying McLaren did it on purpose in this case. But it is the right decision to disqualify when by mistake or deliberately a car has competed unfairly in qualifying session.

Williams and Toyota were disqualified in one of the Canadian GP due to irregularities in brake ducts. They both stated that it had given them no performance gains. Toyota TD Mike Gascoyne attributed the cause to a stack-up of manufacturing tolerances, stated that even with this, the brake ducts were still within a generally accepted tolerance level, etc. Still Ralf Schumacher lost second place and other drivers their race positions.