Malaysian F1 Grand Prix ***SPOILERS***

I'm a McLaren fan i and i have sympathy with this what so ever, they both stayed on the racing line and they knew cars were coming on hotlaps (Martin Whitmarsh confirmed in interview) and still decided to stay on the racing line. This needs to be sorted out as its incredibly dangerous, they were made to do a quicker lap heading to the grid for the same reason.

I do however feel that Heikki deserved a 10place drop as he impeded both Heidfeld and Alonso where as Lewis only impeded Heidfeld.

marcl Wrote:
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> I think its fair tbh a driver could have been hurt
> and nick hit one

Exactly, and i'd have still blamed the stupid rule and not the drivers. If there is proof that they were told to move out of the way on the radio, fair enough, but there isn't yet.

I agree that lewis only held up nick and got a 5 place drop when kovy held up 2 drivers and got the same.

Tbh i think they are lucky not to be at the back of the grid like what happened to ms. I know he parked the car but the speed they were going they may as well have.

I am a mclaren fan btw but i admit when things are not right.

I just hope they can fight through they were never gonna win anway and 3rd and 4th places are still up for grabs even starting there.

If u listen to kubica he does not feel nick was even held up!

Lewis could say trulli held him up as well. I think trulli was completing his lap and lewis was starting his but it messed up lewis going into the 1st corner.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2008 01:18PM by marcl.

No real comment on the penalty as I haven't seen the video, but it fits the pattern of recent years I.M.O.

What I am upset about is Massa. You know he's not consistent enough to win a championship. But he is quick enough to qualify up front and mess up Raikkonen's
race pace/strategy. Here's hoping Kimi gets away quickly at the start.

Hamilton having to get past Alonso is going to be epic. Can't wait for the race!

Cheers.

NEWS JUST IN!!!

The McLaren drivers have both been moved five places down the Malaysian Grand Prix grid as a punishment for impeding Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso in qualifying.

Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton will now start the race from eighth and ninth positions respectively.

The pair had completed their final flying laps of qualifying sooner than usual because the threat of rain encouraged most drivers to take to the track at the earliest opportunity in qualifying.

Keen to conserve fuel for the first stint of the race, they then slowed significantly and cruised back to the pits.

But while they were doing so, other drivers were still on flying laps, and both Heidfeld and Alonso felt they had been obstructed by the cruising McLarens.

After complaints from Heidfeld and Alonso, the stewards summoned Hamilton and Kovalainen to explain their actions, and have now decreed that both should be given a five place penalty.

McLaren does not plan to appeal the decision.

"Car number three (Heidfeld) was impeded in its flying lap due to the fact that car 22 (Hamilton) was travelling at a very slow speed on the racing line," said a stewards' statement, with a second similar statement also issued in respect of Kovalainen.

As a consequence, Jarno Trulli will now start third for Toyota, with both BMWs moving into the top five.

Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso have also been elevated two places to sixth and seventh, ahead of Kovalainen and Hamilton.

With rain a strong possibility for tomorrow's race, the penalty may be less damaging than it would have been in normal circumstances.

It has been raining heavily at Sepang since 3.30pm local time, and the likelihood of changeable weather in the race could give the McLaren drivers more chance to recover than they would have should conditions remain dry.


Revised starting grid:

1. MASSA Ferrari
2. RAIKKONEN Ferrari
3. TRULLI Toyota
4. KUBICA BMW
5. HEIDFELD BMW
6. WEBBER Red Bull
7. ALONSO Renault
8. KOVALAINEN McLaren*
9. HAMILTON McLaren*
10. GLOCK Toyota
11. BUTTON Honda
12. COULTHARD Red Bull
13. PIQUET Renault
14. BARRICHELLO Honda
15. VETTEL Toro Rosso
16. ROSBERG Williams
17. FISICHELLA Force India
18. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso
19. SATO Super Aguri
20. SUTIL Force India
21. DAVIDSON Super Aguri
22. NAKAJIMA Williams**

* penalised 5 places for impeding Heidfeld

** penalised 10 places for Melbourne incident

Very fair penalty - Kovaleinen to start 8th and Lewis 9th. This will almost certainly be a Ferrari whitewash, they were a league above the rest today but I think their strategies must be a little different for there to be a such a gap betwen them or maybe Kimi made a mistake, either way they should be able to race each other for the win. How bad did Lewis' car look?! They'll struggle to get passed the two BMWs I feel.

Toyota have probably gone stupudly light with Trulli as we've seen the do many times before so I'd imagine he'll hold up the two BMWs if they don't pass him early on, will be interesting to see if Webber and Alonso will be able to hang on to the back of that gaggle of cars too.

Looks like another dead exciting race anyways and with the chance of rain too! I can't wait

Oh what a joke this lot are becoming ...

I think this Alonso character should stop crying like a baby and start driving or buggeroff into retirement.

I cant win, because this one or that one took my ice cream booo-hooo, boo-hoo .... idiot !!

Hope he falls off the track at the first corner the little cry baby ...

Pity F1 as become some a kiddies game .........

That's a massive over reaction - you cant have guys driving round the track at 30mph when other are still on their hot laps doing nearer 150, it's not being a cry baby it's just being safe and I doubt Alonso will have needed to complain as the stewards will have seen everything.

So I'd suggest you stop being such a cry baby because the big scary driver is going too fast.

MarcA Wrote:
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> marcl Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I think its fair tbh a driver could have been
> hurt
> > and nick hit one
>
> Exactly, and i'd have still blamed the stupid rule
> and not the drivers. If there is proof that they
> were told to move out of the way on the radio,
> fair enough, but there isn't yet.


Of course you can blame the drivers. What was stopping them using common sense, like Kubica, and driving off the racing line instead of on it?

[Website]

Why wasn't Kimi blocking Kubica in S1 of Qualifying at Melbourne punished then?

For same reason as he is world champion I guess..? ;P

Kimi, so, Massa Fernando Sebastian is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?

Covfan Wrote:
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> Why wasn't Kimi blocking Kubica in S1 of
> Qualifying at Melbourne punished then?

Because there is a difference between getting in the way of a lap, and driving at less than half speed, on the racing line, knowing the session is not over.

Kimi made a mistake and got in the way. The McLaren pair were dangerous and could have hurt someone. Notice how EVERY other car stayed off the line, and McLaren didn't.

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at least lewis has said sorry to nick but as i said before he did not hold up alonso so he never encountered 2 mclarens on the racing line i do think he was speaking up for nick.

But then again break testing someone is dangerous as well and people should remember what they have done before going off the handle at others.

But for lewis and kivy i think its fair to put them back and as i said i think they are lucky well kovy is that he is not at the back. As soon as nick went passed lewis moved over kovy did not.

And webber was also on the racing line at corner 3 when nick was going passed and nothing has even been said about that.

kimi was not done in australia as kubica was on a warm up lap



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2008 03:20PM by marcl.

I sense a redwash around the corner.

Malaysia is becoming very easy to predict... Trulli always goes well, and Toyota have a knack for Sepang too so that one was a given.

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Hmmmmm, if Alonso got a penalty for apparantly holding up Massa back whenever, but all those drivers get away with holding up Heidfeld's and Alonso's Fast Laps, It'll confirm that FIA just make up the rules as they go along

[EDIT] and that is what happens when you realise your not watching qualifying live, Oooopsy!

McLaren deserved that penalty, Kubica seemed to do the right thing of getting off the racing line for others on flying laps but Macca's were hogging the racing line, Hamilton eventually did the right thing for when Alonso came round but he should have done that for Heidfeld too. Expected Webber to get a penalty too, as he was on the apex of the corner, suppose he can argue that he was trying to get off line though and its only a shallow kink so won't lose much time going round the outside. Ferrari's were doing the right thing though of staying off line and out of the way.


PSN/Xbox 360 ID - Ianwoollam



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2008 04:20PM by Ianwoollam.

IWE schreef:
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> Also in Monaco 2006 people could have planned
> their run better when MS parked his car on track..
> And he got punished. Just to remind you..

Thanks for the reminder, but i think that situation was a bit different from this one. Ofcourse the punishment for MS was harder, and i am not going to discus again whether MS did that on purpose, fact is that i think the Macca's were to blame, but not deserved this kind of punishment.

Now we have already intervenience in the battle for the title in the second race of the season, because of this minor issue, which i think it is.

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Felipe Massa, World Champion 15:34:11pm- 15:34:21pm.

03 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:36.613
04 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:36.709
05 J. Trulli Toyota 1:36.711
06 R. Kubica BMW 1:36.727
07 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:36.753

look at the times, 44 hundreths behind lewis, about 1 and 1/2 tenths behind kov. nh said he was not able to brake where he wanted to and ran a touch wide on the exit of the corner as result. had he had a clean track he could well have taken lewis and possibly kov. the penalty was entirely justified, infact kov should be taken 10 places back.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2008 05:40PM by rapid_f1.

HAHA just read the news about the mclarens! Wonder what progress they make in traffic and i guess their strategy must be ruined.

I think the effect of the penaly will depend entirely on the weather tomorrow or is it today :p ?

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

What they did was dangerous, a collision with that speed difference would be terrible! Mclarens where in the wrong, and was right to give them a penalty. No point comparing it too other situations.