I give up. There I was enjoying a reasonably normal F1 season and yet again events off the track take away the pleasure of it all. Plenty has been written about this and you can’t ignore the bias. Being British and all that.
But frankly I don’t care anymore. I used to buy Autocourse religiously every year, then Barrichello went and let Schumacher through at the Austrian GP in 2003 so I stopped. I simply can’t be doing with a sport that is more of a business than a contest. Time is a healer though, and Schuey’s retirement season, plus someone else other than him winning, got me back into it all. The spectacle. The adrenaline.
Then the FIA went and ruined it all over again. Max’s private life hasn’t helped, the McLaren/Renault sagas started the rot, then the Belgian GP simply topped it all. A perfectly decent race ruined by three men. No matter whether you think the penalty was fair or not, it shouldn’t have been decided afterwards. Needn’t have been decided afterwards.
F1 needs people like me. OK, so I’m a journalist but I don’t get privileged access to any of the paddock gossip. Come to think of it, I don’t get any sort of access at all. So from that point of view I’m a paying member of the public.
And I’ve now stopped watching it. To a certain extent I’m cutting off my nose to spite my face because the spectacle of these guys is great. But I simply can’t be having people messing me around. Messing my enjoyment around. It’s a one-man, silent protest, but I’m not watching F1 anymore. The WRC is boring, Touring Cars is dead without SEAT, F1 is a business. Motor sport needs some sort of massive change and my vote starts this weekend.
I couldn’t agree more, F1 is no longer about the enjoyment of racing close to the edge of what is physically possible… its about making money hand over fist.
The FIA need to wake up and realise they are being controlled by which ever team has the most money.
Until someone stands up and re-writes the rules of how this kind of incident should be sorted out its not worth my time.
Just do it yourself like i do. Buy a decent PC game (i would recomend GTR2) and a Force Feedback Wheel with pedals and get INTO the race. Much more fun, no ad-breaks, no bickering, no corruption. Drive online against friends and semi-pros. Watch replays of your best moves. Analyse your car, correct your errors, get better, win championships, off- and online. Do fun stuff like a Beagle around the Nordschleife. The possibilities are endless! F1 is soooo 20. century…
Watch MotoGP, it may not be on four wheels, but it definitely provides more excitement.
obey me FIA.
Let everybody race. Penalize people who actually do cheat, don’t fix the championship
Oh come on. Are SO British you can’t admit the young boy in the maclaren cheated? He simply took advantage of cutting the chicane to pass kimi that’s it. Get over it. Your driver can do mistakes and not being man enough to admit them.
Plus he still got four races to prove he’s up to the challenge of being a champion.
Max’s sordid private life did wonders – it shows there are some interesting (albeit faintly disturbing) characters in the stuffed shirts organisation that is the FIA.
The FIA is pretty much defunct as a creditable organisation with all that’s happened in the last two seasons.
I do not follow any team or driver in F1 (even though Hamilton/ McLaren are the best British outfit) and as a complete neutral, both of these cases look as though Ferrari has got a considerable finger in the FIA’s pie.
I used to watch F1 for the sheer brilliance of all of it – the drivers, the cars, the tactics at various points – but now it is just the team with the largest bankroll (and the most high-up contacts so it seems) that wins the championship each year and it bores me to tears.
All of these are reasons why I will be watching touring cars (BTCC and WTCC), V8 Supercars from Oz and IndyCar racing, as all of those championships (well, not the last one) are just blokes in souped up cars, with some sponsors, going round for the hell of it and maybe to win some money and a trophy at the end of it.
David, the only advantage Hamilton gained from cutting the chicane was that he avoided crashing into Kimi’s arse.
And the FIA’s decision is ridiculous, considering the outcome of the race, ie Kimi crashed a lap later, and Hamilton is so good in the wet he’d've passed eventually, and yet they can’t cope with the idea of a McClaren, especially a Brit, winning. That wouldn’t please Ferrari, oh no. They must always be kept happy, which is why Massa got bugger all for nearly crashing in Valencia’s pit lane.
Still, despite what the FIA throw at him, I’m still confident Hamilton can win the championship. If he loses my less than six points to Massa, there’s gonna be uproar
Talk about being a lousy loser! Hamilton gained an advantage and was rightfully penalised, of course this has been debated to death over the last few weeks and the die hard Lewis fans (ie. most brits) still refuse to face the facts.
If piersward doesn’t even take the time to read the statement from the FIA, in which they clearly state that drive-through penalties are not up for appeal, and that the penalty in question was in fact a drive-through penalty, he shouldn’t be writing stuff like this. He is not a serious journalist in my opinion, but just fanning the fire!
David, hasn’t it occurred to you that maybe it’s not an uproar because everyone and everything is blinded by bias? Or maybe you’re biased against any decision that might fall in Hamilton’s favour?
He gave the reasons in his post – the result should not have been decided after the race, especially as it was a rule that was re-written afterwards to state not to overtake until after the next corner, just highlighting the subjectivity of it.
My brother hates Hamilton with a passion and I haven’t really any affection for him but we enjoyed the race and were pissed off afterwards.
I usually don’t watch it since I find F1 quite boring but at last I saw a decent race and then they go and make the two hours I just spent watching the thing as utterly pointless as if I’d watched any race pre-2007.
I now remember why i cant stand F1, only really started following it this season and im already fed up of the bias towards certain drivers.
Oh and MarQvard – it was a drive through, you’re right. How long did it take for them to decide that one then?
Most of the time it is utterly boring anyway ,
well at least that’s my opinion.
This is one of the reasons why I would rather choose to sit and watch the Superbikes then F1 on my Sunday afternoon, even though I have very little interest in anything that doesn’t have four wheels.
However not all forms of motorsport are uneventfull, and money orientated. I was lucky enough to spend last weekend at Silverstone for the 24 hour Britcar race, and came out of it sleep deprived yet with a smile on my face (Apart from the Ginetta G50 and Sagaris incident). Thats my idea of motorsport where you can talk to the drivers, walk down the pits, never predict who will win, watch the Integra’s smoke along the finish and someone enters a 1.9 Lupo turbodiesel. Thats my kind of race, fast, unpredictable, and almost anyone can enter.
Wrong move Piers. We’re all blogging because we love F1, we love the power, the speed, the noise and the knowledge these cars lap a circuit quicker than anything else. We love and hate the drivers in equal measure and it’s all that which makes the sport what it is. Don’t give up on it Piers and let the men in suits with no passion or knowledge win.
David. this isn’t about whether Hamilton cheated or not anymore. This is about the fact that when it comes down to it the FIA seems to take a long long time to give McLaren a penalty which costs their drivers more than it would normally. Also the FIA seem to give harsher penalties to some teams (not just McLaren) than to others (ok. just Ferrari on that one. lets be honest)
I’m going to just watch the ALMS/LMS races and MotoGp now. F1 isn’t a sport anymore. Like Piers said it’s now just a business. Shame.
The best bet for actual racing:
World Superbike.
Most races are tooth and nail, and you have a good mix of different manufacturers and privateers. And it should be even more interesting next year with KTM and BMW getting into the mix and Aprilia coming back.
I agree with you all that such cases damage the sport but can you blame the FIA for applying the rules? The penalty was decided directly after the overtaking occured but it was too late for the drivethrough.
I think I already said somewhere here that if Hamilton was a bit more experienced, he would have let kimi pass completely and overtake him a minute later. None of this would then had happenned. I think he deliberatly took advantage but that’s my own opinion.
F1 has been boring for years; even when Schummel hung the gloves and helmet it was still a boring thing… and I could not wait for a repeat later that day, I had to wake up early (I’m in the -5GMT zone) or stay up late at home on Saturday instead of going out so as to watch the races live.
My very dear mr Piers; don’t worry trying to find out which motorsport to watch on Sundays; you’ll come back to F1 in, say, 4 days.
David, you’re missing the point. The race was fair and a bloody good one at that. The point is that a brilliant race was ruined by bloody beaurocracy. When a Ferrari driver does this, it’s a marvelous spectacle, but when a black guy in a McLaren does it, it’s cheating? Small wonder why so many people think FIA officials are on Ferrari’s payroll.
Lewis handed the position back to Raikonnen – in that position, no advantage was gained. The FIA claimed that if hamilton hadn’t cut the corner, he’d not have passed Raikkonnen at La Source. That’s bull – Raikkonnen made a complete cock at La Source with his braking – his wheels locked and he skidded wide. Even a chav in a Saxo could have passed him in that position!
Furthermore, if the FIA don’t want to be accused of bias, then why not penalise Massa ‘by the book’ like they did with Hamilton? Nobody can argue that the FIA are just enforcing the rules against Hamilton because they’re clearly not with Ferrari. Another case in point is Raikkonnen hospitalising his mechanic due to running through what would have been a lollipop (but in Ferrari’s case was a yellow light). The last person to jump a light got docked back 10 places on the grid at the French GP. But Raikkonnen’s incident wasn’t even investigated, let alone punished.
Until the FIA enforce the rules for ALL sides, they and the rest of you Ferrari brown-nosers can sod off with your comments because frankly, they don’t hold water. fact is fact and the fact is this – When Ferrari break the rules, they get leniency and light or no punishments. When McLaren skirt the rules, they get the book thrown at them. How can the FIA possibly claim fair play when the facts are so black and white?
Oh, and yes, it’s (and has been and will always be) just business. Exactly as football. And any other “sports”. Even the olympic games!
Didn’t we know that in advance?
i think we should all do the sensible thing and have clarkson as president of the FIA there would be none of this stupid vendetta between ecclestone and dennis and we would have a great no holds barred race series
I have been watching F1 since Jim Clark in 1966, this is absurd. The championship is once again going to be decided off track. Last year was a farce, the penalties imposed on Mc Laren were outrageous if the famed stolen technology was all that great why were they being trounced by McLaren all year, by the way its curious that the Italian magistrate quietly dropped his criminal investigation, why maybe there really was no case anyway. Another query who ‘invented’ the anvil engine cover and why are Ferrari and the other blatant copier’s being penalized?
You are a pitful excuse for an F1 journalist, don’t stop reviewing cars.
If Lewis Hamilton wins this years championship, you will be singing his praises saying how great it is blah blah blah.
You obviously just don’t like it when things don’t go Hamilton’s way- you even say so yourself!
Go on then, stop watching, I dare you. But if Hamilton still has a chance come Brazil, lets see where you will be at 5pm on THAT Sunday.
And get your facts right, Barrichello let Schumacher through in Austria 2001 and then again in 2002, in 2003 Schumi won without problem, well apart from a small pitlane fire
You know, in all honesty, when this year’s championships are done and dusted, we are so gonna look back at this one decision and know that in our hearts, Maclaren’s the real winners this year, (Unless BM pulls one out of their hats) without whinging away to their Ferrari Idiots Association (FIA).
Hehehe, I’ll just keep watching, well done FIA, there’s only one thing that really bothers me, I thought Ferrari was only asked about the issue and moved on, what on EARTH was Ferrari doing at the appeal, and if it wasn’t a legal appeal in the first place; why, oh why, was it accepted and went into judgement?! I’m still in favor to Hamilton’s punishments this year, but some ppl need to read the rules before accepting an appeal. Yes, I am glad Hamilton got punished. Just cuz he’s a brit he can do no wrong?! Whatever, keep calling it Ferrari bias, or cheat, or FIA favour brazilians, *cries cries and cries* it’s music to my ears, because some of you haven’t got a CLUE of how hard was for a brazilian to get a place in an F1 car. Senna wanted a place in the Williams team, then Renault says “no, we want Prost for 1993″. =\ whatever, I would never again talk to any business man from Williams or any car with Renault engines. Brazilians are favored by FIA? I think not. Shumacher was? I think so. yes, it looked like it. Europeans are favored by FIA? Hmmm….Yes, they recieve more press, that’s great, because some of them have a big mouth that ruins everything.
booooooooooooooo…..thats what i think of the FIA,i’m not gonna watch anymore F1 races ,i’ll just wait and see what the papers and tv says.thanks to the FIA.i wouldn’t want to build my hopes up after a driver crossed the chequered flag and the win was then decided by some obnoxious ignorant ass kissing yellow bellies(FIA).i’ll wait a couple of weeks before i punch the air in happiness.why doesn’t the FIA and the ferrari big cheeses get a room and sort out there love for each other…c ya
F1 was fixed last year! take the comment from Bernie Ecclestone at one particular race when he said something along the lines of “i think it would be good for the sport if Lewis Hamilton didn’t win the championship” – what happens, lo and behold, Lewis has something mysterioulsy wrong with his car
The recent events only serve to strengthen the case!
Could some one tell us how to email the FIA then we can clogg up there inbox with our complaints instead of just moaning to each other about it. And just maybe they’d sit up and take notice. As I’ve said before the FIA obviously feel the need to give Ferrari a hand cause they can’t do it on there own.
The tragedy is, this was the best race to watch all season. Somebody finally puts on a show worth watching and he LOSES! I really like Massa, I really do. But this here just aint right. I mean that stuff is normal in GP and SBK. I gave F1 a shot this season but I just dont get it. I’m out.
Let’s be realistic and accept the inevitable – a Ferrari championship that is preordained by the holy FIA. Having accepted that, the rest of F1 should be competing for the real sporting championship – getting second place in the table must be the ultimate goal and that team will receive the plaudits of all genuine F1 fans. Come on Lewis, go for it, you know it makes sense.
Boo hoo.
Well the F1 world seems polarized now. All brits in one side backing Hamilton/McLaren and the rest of the world still in parts and pieces backing someone or the other. All I would like to say, is that why is it being so hard for Great Britain to admit that Hamilton cheated and so was penalized? It isn’t a rumor or a classroom story..it was viewed by millions on Live TV for Christ sake! Please be a sport and accept the outcomes. Plus, if Hamilton is a good driver, he would make his driving do the talking in the next 4 races.
I am on your side on the part that FIA is soft on Ferrari on more that one accounts and that is not good. Money is controlling everything and it won’t be long when every race would be fixed beforehand..if everything stays the same.
it’s just a bloody decision, hamilton’s still ahead, and if he really is the best driver, he can pull away again. if you stopped doing every single blog about lewis, these stupid arguments about British bias wouldn’t be here.
It’s the money. It kills the top end of sports: it killed Premiership football (purely ridiculous now), it’s killed F1, and it will kill other sports in the future.
Obvously, the appeal was rubbish, and the penalty stayed.. because Hamilton DID gain an advantage by cutting the chicane. Good decision by the FIA; that should teach him you must follow the rules at all times, and grow up and stop acting like a kid.
Many drivers cut that same chicane, only one was penalized. Which begs the question: why doesn’t this Professional Business (FIA) hire permanent, Professional Stewards for its races? Have one former driver and one engineer who are both FULL TIME Professional Stewards and the third steward be on a rotational basis or chosen by the track for that race only. That way, we don’t have the debacle we had a Spa.
If you stopped watching F1 after somebody let his teammate pas, you should have stopped in 1990. In Japan Senna let Berger pas him at the end of the race and handed him the victory. In order to thank him for the support during the season, so he said. Nobody seemed to care though. Maybe it is fine, as long as you’re not in a red car.
It’s amazing what media brainwashing does…let’s face it, if a Ferrari driver had been penalised for the same thing, everyone would have been celebrating. Hamilton is not immune from punishment because he is British, and punishment might offend the closet fans that come out whenever we have a good driver.
This matter should be put to bed, and everyone should move on.
fia should not be bias and the decision should not have been made late. fia are unresonable arseholes and their terrible ” sport ” is stupid money making max mosley crap
Fair decision once Hamilton grows up and learn how to drive properly and not act like a child which he has shown to do time and time again. I think Hamilton is a good driver but the way he drives like he did in Monza where he almost ran a fellow driver off the road, only strengthens the case he doesn’t follow the rules and is not afraid to push questionable boundaries to gain an advantage. I say grow up and give us proper racing, I hope Hamilton loses the championship and cleans up his act before coming back next to dominate the competition and win a championship that he won fairly and with class.
seriously, does anybody know why ferrari were cross-examining lewis?
Meh, there is also Tilke who is going to kill overtaking in F1.
Two letters… GT
the FIA (yeah I know.. but there aren’t any Ferrari’s at the top of the grid
) GT championship is far mor exciting then any F1 race. The results are far more random, with GT3 cars finishing well in between the GT1 classes and such… ESPECIALLY during the 24hour races… don’t be suprised if you see a GT4 class car in 4th place or something like that. Plus, GT drivers aren’t such big wussies as their collegue’s in F1, they drive for 2-3 hours in cars that heat up till 80°C in the cockpit. Also there is a much larger grid (+-30-40 cars)
Also it’s a HELL of alot cheaper to watch in real live, a full acces ticket for 4 days at the 24houres of Spa is just a measly €50, while a F1 ticket is around €150 for 1,5hour while standing in the middle of the forest :/
There is one thing I disagree with though… because of this outcome the championship is actually more exciting the ever, and I know that I’m gonna be watching every race now rooting for Hammilton to show that he can still get it
oh and @Will:”I say grow up and give us proper racing,”
you mean like 4 and 3 years ago when F1 was at an all time low and everyone just tucked behind the car they were following and stayed there till the end?
no thanks… the last two races were the most exciting ones in the past 4 or 5 seasons, with finally someone driving like the real F1 pilots did… Senna, Prost, Shumacher and all those other great drivers bended the rules and drove VERY aggresivly exactly like Hamilton does, yet they are remembered as THE best…
and saying that it’s all the car also isn’t true, a car is still a just a car… it needs a driver to control it… it isn’t just about having the best engine or suspension, you also need technique and talent to use that hardware to the limit…
I have seen the incedent a lot now and have the same opinion. Kimi braked early for the corner and lewis had to go for the gap. Kimi has then gone into the corner and run lewis wide as he’s intitaled to do, but lewis had to cut the corner to avoid a crash which would have taken them both out. But the reason lewis got such a good run is that kimi put a wheel on the wet kerb on the exit that lost him traction which is why lewis seemed to be so much quicker down the straight. And how can the stewards give a drive through penalty after the race thats just not fair. Heikki Kovalainen got a deserved drive through but has the rest of the race to make up for it. Lewis was given his two hours after the race how can he come back from that.
hamilton went off because he was forced off by kimi if u dont believe me check out the belgium clip on http://www.f1.com. Also the FIA(Pillucs) created you cannot overtake after cutting a chicane after hamilton cut it. And they created the ‘ You are allowed an extra engine change without penalty’ at monza because Massa’s engine started to cough up.
FIA sort it out for god sake ruining the world for everyone noobs
wooo!!! I’m not the only one that thinks that kimi breaked to early and Lewis had to make a decision to avoid a crash. I wonder if McClaren showed the footage which ITV showed??? hmm. Wait a minute it’s the FIA. I bet you any money that they have seen the footage and they’re just ignoring it as they do because they don’t want they’re precious ferrari to get any type of penalty. Stupid fat gits!!! That’s all I have to say to the FIA
watch world superbike, not a car but always exciting and extremely rarely does it ever have needless drama.
Even with the controversy, f1 is more exciting than it ever was when shuey was dominating.
This just shows that Lewis is going to have to run perfect to win this championship. Any little thing and he is going to pay for it whilst Ferrari can do what ever they want and not have to worry. Remember in Spain when Massa almost ran Fisi into the pit wall. A penalty that spicifically stipulates a drive through penelty and he only got fines 10K… Different rules for different fools.
I hope Lewis blowes Felipe’s doors off for the rest of the season!
now the british gran prix is held at donny; bernie will buy silverstone and he will increas his hold on f1 to the point of no return
i think its funny how u guys cant stop moaning about poor lewis i think its because you brits havent got anyone to support cause last year hamilton screwed up and so did ur football and rugby team so just stop moaning seriously its getting tired
Fia likes ferrari fia hates everyone else
they are recasit blah blah blah balh
seriously ur repeating the samne thing ove and over
if u dont like it dont watch it like u say but i bet 80percent of you that said that is going to watch F1
it’s not just the brits who are upset by this garbage. i’m a diehard F1 fan out here in California and Spa stripped me of the last ounces of respect i had for this sport. i’ll keep watching, but only to watch amazing examples of cutting edge technology taking to the track. i wont fool myself any longer into believing that the human element, the competition between great minds, is fair or just. we have to remember now that F1 is a business, and that the Spa farce happened because someone was going to lose a lot of money if it didn’t. the names arent important. that fact that it happened is.
Lewis didnt gain an advantage on MASSA by cutting that chicane, so why should Massa basically inherit the championship because of what happened between Lewis and Kimi? foolishness.
It doesn’t matter if Kimi braked too early or not, the thing is that the track had two corners (right-left) in that location, kinda like a shicane, where it is impossible to pass if the leading driver follows apexes tightly (which Raikkonen did) but still Hamilton approached hopelessly from the left side of Kimi, already knowing that there will not be enough room for his car on the following left-turn, and he should have just followed Kimi and have a little patience but no, he had to cut the damn corner. (which shouldn’t be even possible in my opinion so that we didn’t have to deal with this kind of crap) And, if he had had the patience and stayed on the track, in my opinion he would have had to brake very hard, which brings us to the advantage-matter. He would have left much further back from Kimi after the corner because he braked late for the right-turn destroying the ideal drivingline for the next left-turn, and remember, Kimi had nearly perfect line all the time, so I am sure hi gained more advantage than it seemed. It is impossible to give appropriate penalty for that after race and still FIA had to do something about it, and 25s penalty-ticket (stop&go?) is what they came up with. Fair? No comment. All I know is Hamilton is guilty to all of this, he definately didn’t act fair.. At least (obviously) not enough. Sorry for the short comment. Dot.
It’s not the sport that screws everything up, its the fans and the media that kill it. If people only treated it as a sport rather than as a religion we’d all be better off. Just watch the race on the weekend, then turn a blind eye to it till the next race. That way your none the wiser.
***Add: Marcus, remember that WHAT IF the penalty had been given during the race? (stop&go) Massa would have won anyway, but again that’s a thing we can never be sure of.
As Bernie comment 27 said – look at Brasil year, the start was almost choreographed – co-ordinated even. Watch it all back, and again, and again.See Filpe co-operate with Kimi. See Kimi Back off then accelerate, getting Lewis boxed in. Watch Alonso brake test Lewis leaving him nowhere to go. And then Filipe backs off.None of these tactics have ever been employed by Lewis, or needed by him – but no one gets a penalised for backing off the throttle in a suspicious manner (in an F1 car without a flywheel backing off the trhottle scrubs speed like standing on the brakes)Then the fuel irregularities, but don’t go and appeal Mclaren you just might find it is ‘inadmissible’. Don’t worry Lewis, some of the greatest never won a Championship. Those with 20/20 vision can see who’s best without any need for jingoistic bias. Montoya had the right idea. Where were the FIA when Schumacher ran him off the track at Imola. It’s not a sport if the greatest drivers faces don’t fit. Ron, Martin, Lewis, why not jump across the water and leave these fffff..lippin idiots (in the language of Montoya;))behind – do a ‘Nigel’. Leave them to their hollow meaningless stage managed victories.
Anon F1 – Kimi’s line was hardly perfect, first rule of racing a car is brake in a straight line, then he opens the door at the last minute in the hope Lewis spins/ploughs straight on. The perfect line would have seen him defend the corner – he did not do that.
I am kind of neutral on the penalty, yes Hamilton gained an avdantage but since the penalty was not given in the race they should probably penalize him on the starting grid on the next race.
Anyway I do to believe they are a bit soft on Ferrari, but even Ferrari has to follow the rules. Don’t forget tha even shumi got black flagged and disqualified for an entire season for one admittably serious cheating (ramming on Villeneuve)
However from whatever perspective you look at it, F1 is still the pinnacle of motor-racing.
And yes Lewis must mature, he is championship material but he needs some more time to fully develop as a real F1 great.
Oh and Leistrum I don’t think Montoya can be considered one of the greats in F1…don’t even think of it… Senna Prost Shumi, Stewars etc etc yes! not Montoya man…
The FIA (F**king Ignorant Assholes) have really crossed the line here!
I knew they were biased against poor Lewis and his exciting driving style! Why can’t they realise that the sport is so f**king boring without Lewis’s antics?!
I hope someone abolishes the FIA for their actions!
Lewis, it’s time to teach those w**kers a lesson they’ll never forget. Get out there and win the championship for the good of the sport!
I used to play American Football here in Australia. One game we scored a touchdown – 7 Points to put us ahead. There was a penalty called on one of our players so the touchdown was taken off us. At the end of the game the ref went up to the player he penalized and said he made a mistake. There should have been no penalty and the touchdown should have been awarded. We lost by less than 7 points. Annoyed? Yes. Nothing we could do about it.
In all sports there are penalties called that are not real. There are times when a penalty should be called but it isn’t.
It has been called. Right or Wrong. It is time to move on and stop fighting with the people you would most likely sit down and watch a race with.
I would suspect that the FIA are watching Hamilton closer that a lot of others, because a lot of drivers are complaining about him driving them off the road. Sure it looks good for the fans, but you have to think how you like it when someone nudges your car on the Highway at high speeds.
Desciding the penalty did take time. I think it is better than just ripping the trophy from Hamiltons hands on the podium. Makes you think though. How many times must the replay have been seen? How many arguments about what the public will think and how it is going to affect the championship. It may seem like a simple penalty but I am sure is one of the hardest to work out. Especially when it is dealing with the championship leader. Time means they looked at it many different ways and that there must have been plenty of arguing about the outcome.
On the other hand. If they did nothing, most of the world would accuse Hamilton of cheating and that the only way he could win a championship is by being a cheater.
This has been one of the more exciting seasons. You have Force India in their first season almost get 3rd in Monaco. 3 drivers win their first races. A customer car win its first race. Another team win its first race. 2 new street circuits. A fantastic crash in the pit lane involving 2 championship leaders. A controversial penalty that may or may not affect the championship.
It has been a good year except for all those people who focus on 25 seconds.
I on the other hand like to focus on the 22 hours we have had this season, and I am looking forward to the next 6.
FIArrari have ruined it. One man silent protest – Im in too and I bet theres many more joining. After 20 years of watching F1 I’m pulling my disposable income from that sport now. no tickets, no merchandise, no satellite tv sports subscriptions – nada.
turn off F1
Leistrum, (58.) If you meant that Kimi in the middle of the track when coming to the first (right) corner was the “open door”; In my opinion Kimi defended the first corner by not letting Hamilton on the INSIDE of the curve, which would have put Kimi in a difficult situation (the same situation Hamilton actually got) If I understood you wrong please tell me, english is not my native language.
Soo I don’t watch F1….but this boggles me. FIA is going to penalize Lewis for going through the chicane or w/e, but they fail to realize that if he DIDN’T then they would have crashed and potentially get someone hurt? What’s the problem? Like honestly…
BTW watch some ALMS or LM 24hr races…..the Aston/Corvette rvialry is very nice to watch.
I am not really sure why foreigners who post here are so surprised and inflamed by British bias towards a British driver. It is natural to support your countryman in a sport whether it is a team sport or solo sport. Witness fans (American and European) at the Ryder Cup, football fans, Rugby fans, an so on – all suppoting their teams or representitives. Together with that when I meet an Alonso fan at a race they are (usually) Spanish, a Webber fan is usually Australian. Suggest that if people are so against British bias they do not read British sites. Easy really.
Perhaps Mclaren should try to pinch next year’s Toro Rosso plans, so that their fans can wear a Toro Rosso hair shirt over the Ferrari one they already have.
Just ignore the idiots.
Think as if they dont even exist.
Start thinking in terms of an idiot World Champion and the Peoples champion. Then you wouldnt need to hate or even bother of the Ferrari International Arse.
Really sick of people saying Hamilton got punished for cutting the chicane. He didn’t. He got punished for not waiting until after the next corner to try another overtake, thereby capitalising on the time advantage he had gained from cutting the chicane.
And yeah, it is natural to support your countrymen, but if this is how the British people handle a decision not going their way, then thats a pretty big stain on your national character. I mean, its just a sport, your side loses a game, you get over it, and look forward to the next one. There is a lot of selective memory in this blog, ferrari has been penalised a whole heap of times in the past, almost every tech reg change in the last 10 years has been to made to hinder Ferrari and level the playing field, didn’t hear complaints of bias then.
maybe if lewis were to have dressed up as as an SS commandant and had a few ladies of the night hanging off his wing mirrors,he probably would have got his win reinstated and or am i being a tad cynical ?…..c ya
It’s not only in Britain that the FIA actions seam bias towards Ferrari. In Portugal too the general feeling is that FIA is nothing but a bunch of business men without any love for the sport. The GP was taken away from Portugal with the reasoning that it didn’t made any sense to have to GP in Iberia Peninsula. Rather strange to have two so close to one another, is it not?
I haven’t been watching F1 for years now. I watch the WRC though, and do not agree that it is boring. There’s nothing boring with watching the best pilots in the world displaying incredible driving skills in all sorts of weather conditions over the most diverse types of terrains that are currently in use in motor sports.
He! He! Only the stupid ferrari fans, anti-mclaren, anti-hamilton people are happy about this stupid decision. Once again the FIA made themselves look stupid and pro-ferrari in the eyes of the motor racing world!
Genie, post 68.. So let me think about your comment. you say Lewis was penalised not for cutting the chicane, but for overtaking a corner too early? That rule by my understanding is an unwritten gentlemanly rule. so if the rule does dot actually exist, then how can someone possibly be penalised for it?
hmmmmm… more confused.com..
USA viewer here, so don’t claim of bias.
@ anonF1:
“Kimi had nearly perfect line all the time”
HAHA, what a load of crap. Kimi was way off the line. Don’t believe me? Go check his line through there one lap prior (and just about every lap before that). It’s completely different. In the incident lap, he was off the racing line. You don’t set up for a right-hander by being on the right, unless your intention is to muck everything up! Hamilton was on the proper line, and the way he blew by Kimi made it look like Kimi was ceding the corner. But what’s this…Kimi creeps up on the inside, front right locked. He totally blew the line, pushing Hamilton wide, and that screwed up his own exit as well.
“Capitalizing” on cutting chicane? If that were true, Hamilton would’ve flat disappeared down the straight and Kimi would be nowhere near him, nevermind ramming right into his ass at La Source.
I have just seen the footage once again yesterday for the first time since then
what hamilton did was simply attack changing the side behind Kimis rear wing.. so Kimi could not really defend any more as he had only one move allowed..
if you call this giving the advantage away then simply do not watch F1 and stop crying
yes, Hamilton is a great driver but he is also the one making the most stupid moves and the most stupid comments
why does the fia all ways take ferrari side because if hamilton didnt cut the corner he would of hit rikkions car and he did give him the place back…..so FIA listen to mrclearn
i think top gear should go on formula 1 and show how its done
I’ve been a motorsport fan since the early 70’s, but since Ferrari have been dominating F1 through shady business negotiations, using the FIA as some kind of lap dog, F1 has not held any interest for me for many years.
I got back into televised motorsport watching the FIA GT, ALMS, LMS and of course Le Mans race itself and since then F1 has slipped almost off my radar. I normally watch the first couple of races in an F1 season to see whether anything fundemantal has changed to allow proper cometition and then switch it off in favour of the endurance series as the answer to that is a “no”. Off circuit decisions like the one debated here and in past years only re-inforces my view that F1 is dying and trying to woo the endurance crowd with “night” races is symptomatic of a series feeling under threat from what is far more enjoyable and competive form of racing.
come on everybody leave whats done. no one can change that decision. look ahead what they can do to win.
I got better idea! Lewis could drop racing, so there wouldnt be these nonsense blogs!
Always blaming FIA for “dissing” Maclaren? Well; I’m Ferrari fan head to toes (that doesnt make me Shumi fan, im neutral on that), when Shumi was taking championship after championship, FIA started to set rules to slow Shumi down! Now you whine about some lousy 25 seconds which is nothing compared to how much Ferrari those days was forced to throw ideas and effords down from toilet, just ‘cuse FIA wanted to slow shumi down! They are even now!
19th centry biggest idiots come from maclaren too, 100m$ fine speaks for it self!
rimau said…
“yes, Hamilton is a great driver but he is also the one making the most stupid moves and the most stupid comments” Next big idiot coming? i couldnt agree more! (not maybe entirely great, he has just working car…)
All you people, please know the rules first. The rule clearly says that if you cut short the chicane and gain a place then you should hand over the lead and should not overtake in the very next corner. Hamilton gave back the lead I agree, but he did overtake Kimi in the very next corner, thats why Hamilton got penalized. Hope that helps!
I’ve been hearing that Ferrari are lodging a further appeal for next season. Apparently they are protesting that there are other teams involved in the championship. Only joking, obviously ( don’t sue me Ferrari please, i promise I’ll never overtake a Ferrari on a track day again ) But, forget which team, or driver you support just for one second, and think back to Hill / Schumacher, Mansell / Senna, Senna / Prost, Hakkinen / Schumacher. when has tihs sort of thing been questioned before. Those drrivers had ensless incidents between them, and there was never anything like this. My point is that, since Schumacher left Ferrari, the FIA seem to have bent over backwards to help them. Is it because they have now not got the driver to make sure of a championship a win?
This might possibly be the worst thing to say on a Page for a car magazine but…….watch MotoGP and World Supperbikes instead. If anyone watched race 2 of World Superbikes from Rome at the weekend they would have saw an awesome battle between Haga and Bayliss which Haga ended up winning! Or how about the MotoGP race at Laguna Seca with Rossi and Stonner fighting for the lead and doing some proper racing, nudging eachother and doing ridiculously impossible overtakes! Motor sport needs to be exciting and frankly F1 isnt anymore!
@ Karthik (83). I think you’re wrong as it happens Kartik. The rule about having to wait a corner before retaking the place came into effect AFTER Spa. Door shutting. Horse bolted.
this is a tricky one i think, in my opinion, the penalty was deserved
kimi’s line was well off perfect, but lewis got himself into the mess he made by lookin to overtake him in a line that was never going to stick. yes he cut the corner to avoid the accident, but at the end of hte day like i said, he got himself into that mess. had there been barriers there on that chicane, he wouldve gone straight into them, smashed an out of the race, so jus because there wasnt, doesnt mean its okay to still cut the corner.
lewis does have an exciting and aggressive drivig style and it is great to watch. but i do think that he does use bullying tactics to get past drivers, some of the incidents in monza speak for themselves. he is a great driver, he jus needs to get some more mature experience. he’s not and F1 legend yet, hes got plently of years left to prove it. he should carm is style down a bit too, or he’s going to get branded a drity driver.
the way the incident was handled was wrong tho, the penalty shouldve been handed out during the race, and regardless what the race director says, it was the stewards call. the FIA have certainly put a black cloud over this season already, and the new rule change, although was needed, was handled in all the wrong manner.
also id like to say that although i believe the penalty was right. it shouldve been handed out to lewis during the race, regardless of how many laps were left. if the race is over then surely all matters with the race are closed? this is where they went wrong, instead of embarrasin the poor lad by strippin him of the win. if they didnt give a penalty during the race, they shoudlnt have givin it after the race! had lewis had the stop-and-go it wouldve been a completly different finish.
take football for a example, penalties have been givin that were wrong and cost teams important matches, but they never get overturned after the game is over nor do goals get stripped after a match. arguements could be made that championships have been decided by bad decisions this deffenatly the same with F1.
but this is the world of sport, bad decisions get made, people complain, its only natural. but come on now, its been 2weeks down the line now. you wouldnt see football managers and fans still complainin about a penalty that was given in a game 2 weeks ago!
just get over it!
After attending the Belgium GP from the paddock I must say that everybody was so excited to see the race ending the way it finished. Finally some real good racing! Only on the way home we learned the FIA was screwing the race result. After last year this confirms again the sick making feeling that the FIA and Ferrari are too close. It is a shame to see another sport being messed by politics. After Balestre Mosley was a relief but I think he is in the seat too long now…. I didn’t miss a race since 1984 but I do have serious doubts whether I will still waste my time on this farce.
Watch MotoGP, Rossi has a similar spectacular driving style but considering his main sponsor he won’t get penalized..
You know what (Screw) the FIA and Ferrari. Last time I checked that little puck (Massa) drove just as aggessive as any other driver out there. When Ferrari drives aggessively, it all about good clean competition. Oh, but, when someone challenges Ferrari, now we can’t have any of that going on. Your hurting there feelings (Kiss my butt, Enzo).
Same goes for Kimi, maybe if he didn’t sleep til noon everyday, the BOY would wake-up and race better. Here lately, he doesn’t seem to wake-up until the end of the race. Then he suddenly realizes (must go faster, must go faster).
Bottomline: The FIA has been watching too many Nascar Races, (another worthless sport), Formula 1 has become a bunch of Money Hungry and Sponsor Grabbing Idiots. Screw the FIA, the fans want to see some racing, and if it turns out to be a little aggressive who cares. Certain rules are like certain taxes they SUX. I say “Let them RACE”.
FIA. Does it actually stand for “FERRARI IN-FAVOUR AUTHORITY”? Its a complete joke. Regardless of Hamiltons Belgium Gp, every single incident Mclaren, get penalised. Yet Ferrari get away with everything. Raikkonen at Monaco. Smashing in to the back of Sutil putting him out of the race, yet Raikkonen goes on to score points. Massa at Valencia, coming out of the pits nearly hitting Sutil again. Again get away with it.Yet Kovalinainen slighty touched Webber up the inside of a corner and gets a drive through penalty! Its safe to say that the FIA have it in for Mclaren since the Ferrari spy scandal (£50 million) another joke! But they could at least make it less obvious. It seems theres one rule for Ferrari and another for everyone else. I have officially had enough of F1 now.
Oh how joyous it would be if Lewis did win the championship this year, he could turn around and say how even the stewards, let alone the drivers, couldn’t beat him…
…Good luck Lewis, if you win this year, I think you’ve achieved more than what Schumi could’ve done in his entire F1 career…beating the drivers, stewards and the FIA (Think the F stands for Ferrari somehow
I agree, apart from ‘touring cars is dead without seat’, simply because the best racing this season was between vauxhall’s and BMW’s. F1 is a complete joke though.
Sue C, I’ll bet the FIA doesnt have email yet.
There’s quite a lot going wrong for F1. I just think F1 has worn out its welcome, it’s outgrown its room for growth and will therefore die out. Just like dinos did, really. Time for something else.
I’m all for racing real cars like the GT3 class, cars you could actually buy. Not even raceprepared like GT1’s.
Of course the FIA has email. How do you think Max Mosley finds his lady friends?
http://en.f1-live.com/f1/ en/headlines/news/detail/ 080924144159.shtml
Former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan has called for calm amid anti-McLaren conspiracy theories involving Lewis Hamilton’s championship challenge.
The Bus Stop chicane controversy breathed new life into claims that the FIA favours Ferrari, particularly when McLaren and Hamilton are involved.
But Irishman Jordan, who left Formula One after he sold his eponymous team four years ago, believes critique of F1’s governing FIA does not need to be so hysterical.
While admitting that Hamilton was “hard done by” to be penalised at Spa-Francorchamps earlier this month, Jordan told Setanta: “It has to be borne in mind that this is the fifth time that he’s (had) some form of penalty this year and, being perfectly honest, all previous four were clear-cut cases against him.”
“If I was his team boss, I’d call him aside and say: ‘Lewis, you’re the best person in the car. Be very calm, be confident in your own ability but you don’t need to do things you don’t have to do’.”
Jordan says he does not subscribe to the anti-Hamilton conspiracy theories.
“If you take the situation where he blocked somebody (in qualifying), it was clear. He paid the penalty. If you don’t turn up on time, you pay the fine. In Montreal, he ran into the back of Raikkonen going through a red light, so that was clear too,” he said.
“We must not get carried away with ‘They have it in for us’. It’s the easiest form of defeat in my view. We must make sure we are not circumventing rules to make sure he wins it.”
“He is great but he needs to take a little bit of stock now and again and bring a little bit of humility to his form,” Jordan added.
long story short, i think there should be an amendment to the rules that states that if something like Spa happens again, a penalty should be imposed in such a manner that only benefits the party (in this case Kimi) who was “wronged.” And if said party for some reason is no longer able to receive the benefit of a penalty (i.e. crash into a wall of his own accord) then the penalty is thrown out, as to not benefit those who had nothing to do with the whole situation (i.e. Massa).
an amendment to the rules at this point doesnt seem too much to ask really, since a new amendment seems to have been slipped in under everyone’s noses after the fact (i.e. now giving the position back is no longer enough, now you must wait another corner before you can start racing again).
marcus, that is some excellent circular logic.
Bet you watched the last one tho’?