Mark Webber took his second victory of the season with a dominant drive at the Monaco Grand Prix. Red Bull Racing team-mate Sebastian Vettel finished in a close second while Robert Kubica took a solid third for Renault.
Webber’s win on the streets of the Principality means he now leads the drivers’ championship with 78 points, sharing the top honour with Vettel although on count back the Australian edges ahead with back-to-back victories.
His race pace was impressive and despite four safety car periods caused by crashes and a loose drain cover at Massenet, Mark Webber was inch-perfect around the tight, narrow and twisty street circuit.
This was the perfect result for the Australian and Red Bull Racing. It follows on from his great weekend at Barcelona seven days ago with pole position and race win. To take the top honours in the jewel event of the Formula One World Championship was a superb achievement.
Equally impressive was Robert Kubica. Despite Sebastian Vettel taking the track position right at the start and into Sainte Devote, the determination from the Renault driver was strong. The Polish driver was pushing his R30 to the limit to keep on tabs from the charging Red Bulls, but third was the best result he could do.
Felipe Massa took fourth for Ferrari followed by Lewis Hamilton in the sole remaining McLaren. His team-mate Jenson Button was forced to retire as early as lap three due to overheating. The team had accidentally left a blanking plate across the MP4-25’s sidepod on the way to the grid, which Button suspected had caused overheating.
Despite starting from the pitlane, the first safety car gave an opportunity for Fernando Alonso. He was able to make up the lost ground caused by Nico Hulkenberg’s Williams crashing into the wall in the tunnel on the opening lap. The Ferrari driver took advantage of a ‘free’ pitstop and came in to switch to the medium compound for the rest of the 78-lap race.
With a fresh set of Bridgestone, better downforce and speed in the F60, Alonso was able to carve past the Virgins, Lotuses and Hispanias with some superb overtaking moves.
He was set to finish in sixth until the final yards of the Monaco Grand Prix, when he got sideways out of Rascasse as the safety car came in to allow a final sprint to the line, and accidentally let Michael Schumacher slip through.
That move on the final lap into Anthony Noghes corner is a major talking point for the race stewards whether Schumacher’s pass was legit or not under the safety car rules. After a few hours the race stewards have decided to penalise Michael Schumacher with a twenty-second penalty and the Mercedes GP driver moves down to P12 with Alonso taking back his sixth position.
Schumacher got in front of his Mercedes GP team-mate Nico Rosberg at the start, although the fast-starting Rubens Barrichello was able to slip his Williams ahead of both as they battled. Despite Rosberg staying out until lap 28 on the soft Bridgestone and setting several fastest laps, he was unable to get back ahead in the stops.
Stopping later worked for Adrian Sutil as the German jumped past Force India team-mate Tonio Liuzzi. By finishing in the top ten, the pair gave the Vijay Mallya’s team its first double points finish.
Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi took the remaining point with tenth following the Michael Schumacher’s penalty. Renault’s Vitaly Petrov finished the race four laps down in P13.
As for Barrichello, who lost ground in the pits and was running tenth until a problem at the left rear (possibly a slow puncture) caused him to crash at Massenet on lap 31, prompting the second safety car caution. The third followed 12 laps later while a suspected loose drain cover at the same location was swiftly checked.
All the new teams’ cars retired, the last of them when Lotus’s Jarno Trulli, who had been delayed by a slow pitstop, vaulted over Hispania’s Karun Chandhok at Rascasse near the finish. The crash, which happened right in front of race leader Webber, prompted the final safety car.
So the perfect weekend for Mark Webber and Red Bull Racing. After playing down its chances going into the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, the RB6 and the drivers delivered the result with a one-two finish in Monte Carlo. Leading both championships as well. It will be deeply fascinating whether anyone can catch the charging Red Bulls as Formula One heads to Istanbul in two weeks’ time.
Race results from Monte Caro, 78 laps:
1. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1h:50:13.355
2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault +0.448 seconds
3. Kubica Renault +1.675 seconds
4. Massa Ferrari +2.666 seconds
5. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes +4.363 seconds
6. Alonso Ferrari +6.341 seconds
7. Rosberg Mercedes +6.651 seconds
8. Sutil Force India-Mercedes +6.970 seconds
9. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes +7.305 seconds
10. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari +8.199 seconds
11. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari +9.135 seconds
12. Schumacher Mercedes +25.712 seconds*
13. Petrov Renault +4 laps
*Twenty-second penalty for overtaking under the safety car
Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:15.192
Not classified/retirements:
Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 71 laps
Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 71 laps
Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 59 laps
Senna HRT-Cosworth 59 laps
Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 28 laps
Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 27 laps
Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 26 laps
Glock Virgin-Cosworth 23 laps
De la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 22 laps
Button McLaren-Mercedes 3 laps
Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1 lap
World Championship standings, round 6:
Drivers:
1. Webber 78
2. Vettel 78
3. Alonso 75
4. Button 70
5. Massa 61
6. Hamilton 59
7. Kubica 59
8. Rosberg 54
9. Schumacher 22
10. Sutil 20
11. Liuzzi 10
12. Barrichello 7
13. Petrov 6
14. Alguersuari 3
15. Hulkenberg 1
Constructors:
1. Red Bull-Renault 156
2. Ferrari 136
3. McLaren-Mercedes 129
4. Mercedes 78
5. Renault 65
6. Force India-Mercedes 30
7. Williams-Cosworth 8
8. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 4
Next race: Turkish Grand Prix, May 28-30.
The top three drivers’ views on the Monaco Grand Prix. Taken from Autosport.com.
Mark Webber described his Monaco Grand Prix victory as among the greatest days of his life, after dominating from pole in Monte Carlo.
The Red Bull driver was never headed in the race and shrugged off four safety car periods to win ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel.
“Absolutely incredible and for sure one of the greatest days of my life today,” said Webber. “To win here was very special, it started yesterday with qualifying when it went well but here it is such a test for two hours.
“I had a lot of work to do, the track changed a lot, backmarkers and lot of safety cars – getting restarts and tyre pressures right – all the basics that could test were in front of you today. It is amazing – to join Ayrton Senna and those guys [as a winner] around here is great.”
Webber escaped a last minute scare when Jarno Trulli and Karun Chandhok collided spectacularly in front of him at Rascasse with three laps to go.
“[Engineer] Ciaron [Pilbeam] was on the radio saying you have Jarno and Chandhok in front,” said Webber. “I was nursing the car and with backmarkers you can lose a lot of time.
“I saw Jarno doing a lunge down at Rascacsse and thought ‘what the hell is going on here?’ They interlocked wheels and I hoped I would have some room to go. I worried if Karun was okay because it all looked like it was around his head.”
The result puts Webber and Vettel into a joint championship lead – a position the Australian said Red Bull richly deserves.
“We will continue to work hard,” he said. “We are not here because we’ve been slacking, the effort that has gone in from two and a half years, this has been a continuous effort of RB5 into RB6, it is fantastic continuity in the team.
“We are optimistic for the future and we got the maximum we could do today, and we need to make that happen as often as possible.”
Mark Webber described his Monaco Grand Prix victory as among the greatest days of his life, after dominating from pole in Monte Carlo.
The Red Bull driver was never headed in the race and shrugged off four safety car periods to win ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel.
“Absolutely incredible and for sure one of the greatest days of my life today,” said Webber. “To win here was very special, it started yesterday with qualifying when it went well but here it is such a test for two hours.
“I had a lot of work to do, the track changed a lot, backmarkers and lot of safety cars – getting restarts and tyre pressures right – all the basics that could test were in front of you today. It is amazing – to join Ayrton Senna and those guys [as a winner] around here is great.”
Webber escaped a last minute scare when Jarno Trulli and Karun Chandhok collided spectacularly in front of him at Rascasse with three laps to go.
“[Engineer] Ciaron [Pilbeam] was on the radio saying you have Jarno and Chandhok in front,” said Webber. “I was nursing the car and with backmarkers you can lose a lot of time.
“I saw Jarno doing a lunge down at Rascacsse and thought ‘what the hell is going on here?’ They interlocked wheels and I hoped I would have some room to go. I worried if Karun was okay because it all looked like it was around his head.”
The result puts Webber and Vettel into a joint championship lead – a position the Australian said Red Bull richly deserves.
“We will continue to work hard,” he said. “We are not here because we’ve been slacking, the effort that has gone in from two and a half years, this has been a continuous effort of RB5 into RB6, it is fantastic continuity in the team.
“We are optimistic for the future and we got the maximum we could do today, and we need to make that happen as often as possible.”
Robert Kubica says a poor start from second on the grid probably cost him second place in the Monaco Grand Prix.
But the Renault driver was still happy with his second podium of the season after a very strong weekend from the Pole.
Kubica lost his position at the start, when he was overtaken by Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull.
Despite feeling quicker than the German driver, Kubica had to settle for third, especially after flat-spotting a tyre before the halfway point of the race.
“It was known that starting from the dirty side would be difficult for me,” said Kubica. “Normally I would defend but I saw Mark did a slow pull-away so I thought I had a chance to overtake him.
“I just got on the power too early and got wheelspin, so it was too late to close the door on Vettel and then had to defend from Felipe.
“I was able to keep up pace with Seb. I think we were slightly quicker than them. Then with 30 laps to go, I had a big flat spot and big vibration and was really scared I might need to pit again and change tyres.
“I couldn’t see the pit board and was surprised about pace. Third place we have to be positive about. No was expecting us to finish on the podium. Congratulations to Renault to have all spots on the podium.”
Kubica conceded it was impossible to try to overtake Vettel, and he was fearful that he would crash following his tyre problems.
“Not really, especially when I had the front lock-up I had huge vibrations, so I was looking quite a lot on the tyres.
“I thought the vibration might be quite dangerous for exploding the tyres. When I saw I was able to keep up pace and control the gap to Felipe there was no real chance. I was never really close and in Monaco it is nearly impossible to overtake.”
A major talking point at the end of the Monaco Grand Prix is whether Michael Schumacher last-corner pass on Fernando Alonso was legit or not. The race stewards are looking into the matter and the race results remains provisional until the decision is made.
F1 Fanatic has posted an article on the controversy and the link is provided here:
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2010/05/16/schumacher-courts-controversy-with-last-gasp-pass-on-alonso-after-safety-car/
And according to Schumacher, he expects no penalty. Read the Autosport.com story in detail as posted below:
Michael Schumacher believes there is no reason to be penalised for his incident with Fernando Alonso in the Monaco Grand Prix.
Schumacher overtook Alonso on the final corner of the final lap to take sixth position away from the Spaniard, but the incident is under investigation as the safety car had just left the track.
“No, not really, no,” said Schumacher when asked if he expected a penalty.
“I think there is either this message, or there is the message ‘track clear’ and ‘safety car in’ and that was the message that was given to all of us and when this message is out it means track clear and back to racing. The cars were removed. There was no further need [for the safety car] so I took my opportunity.”
He is also expecting former rival Damon Hill, acting as an advisor for the race stewards this weekend, to understand the situation.
“It will be interesting. He is a good guy so I’m sure he will understand the situation and it’s normal that the other team has a different opinion but we have to see. Maybe we missed something that we are not aware of.”
The sporting rules state that, “If the race ends whilst the safety car is deployed it will enter the pitlane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking.”
The argument, however is whether the race finished under the safety car or this came into the pits as it would normally do after a period controlling the race.
Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn reckons the race finished as normal, and therefore there should be no penalty for Schumacher.
“There’s a regulation which is new this year that says you can race between safety car line one and the start/finish line,” Brawn told the BBC. “The race used to finish on the start/finish line. Now I think the point Stefano [Domenicali] is raising is it says that if the race finishes under the safety car you are not allowed to do that.
“But we were advised before the end of the race that the safety car was coming in. There was no instruction that the race was going to finish under the safety car, so for us as soon as we got the instruction ‘safety car in this lap’ at 15:51 we considered the race was now on again.
“At 15:52 we were told the track was clear and and at 15:53 was the chequered flag. So, from the instructions we have from the FIA, the safety car was coming in on the final lap but the race wasn’t finishing under the safety car and it’s a very important distinction so we advised our drivers that they could still race between safety car line one and the start/finish line.
“And I think you saw the reaction of all the other drivers. If what Stefano has said was true, they would just cruise to the start/finish line because they knew they couldn’t be overtaken, but everyone went for it and I’m afraid Fernando was a little asleep and we took advantage.”
This was a disappointing weekend for the Williams team. Both Nico Hulkenberg and Rubens Barrichello crashed out promoting the safety car to make an appearance in the Monaco Grand Prix. The team is now investigating the situation according to Autosport.com. Read the story below for the full details.
Williams says it will urgently investigate the mechanical problems that caused heavy crashes for both Nico Hulkenberg and Rubens Barrichello in Monaco.
Hulkenberg slammed into the wall in the tunnel on the opening lap due to a front wing issue, while a breakage at the rear of Barrichello’s car sent him spinning into the barriers as he crested the Beau Rivage just before half-distance, taking him out of ninth place.
“That was not a good day for the team after a promising start for Rubens,” said technical director Sam Michael.
“Nico had a problem with the clutch paddle on the steering wheel during the formation lap. He then had a failure with the front wing mounting on the first lap of the race.
“Rubens had a fantastic start and was running in sixth when he started to experience poor handling after his stop. Eleven laps after his pitstop, he had a failure at the rear end of his car.
“We need to get all the parts back to the factory in order to identify correctly what components on both cars caused the failures. We have quite a bit of car damage to repair, but we’re making progress with performance and look to further that in Istanbul.”
Barrichello said the incident had come as a shock to him, although the car’s handling had been deteriorating prior to the crash.
“What happened today was a real surprise,” he said. “I had such a good start but the car started to feel really strange after the pitstop.
“The steering wheel, in particular, didn’t feel normal. The problem continued to get worse and then I crashed.”
Hulkenberg was equally bemused by his accident.
“I’m then not entirely sure what happened in the tunnel,” he said. “The car felt odd one minute and the next I was in the wall.”
Going into the Monaco Grand Prix, Jenson Button was leading the drivers’ championship but he was forced to retire early following a team error made on the starting grid. Autosport.com has the full story.
Jenson Button says he has already got over the team error that caused his McLaren to overheat and resulted in his early retirement from the Monaco Grand Prix.
The pre-race championship leader dropped out on only the second lap due to the after-effects of a cooling cover having been accidentally left on the left sidepod on the way to the grid.
“Jenson’s afternoon was very disappointing one for him, through no fault of his own,” McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh explained.
“Human error caused a cooling cover to be left off the left-hand radiator on the lap to the grid – and, despite our best efforts to recover the situation, the components underneath the car got too hot, and Jenson was forced to switch the engine off when a small fire developed.”
Button reckoned the issue would have gone away but for the extra period of slow running behind the safety car.
“I knew after the formation lap that there was a cooling cover left on the left-hand sidepod, where the radiator is,” he said. “We thought everything was going to be okay, and it would probably have been fine if we hadn’t had a safety car.
“My car quickly began to overheat and I started losing engine power, so I turned the engine off pretty sharply because the last thing I wanted was to leave engine oil on the racing line.”
He is confident that the team can quickly bounce back from the mistake in Turkey.
“Today was just one of those days,” Button said. “It was human error, a mistake, and that’s all there is to it.
“I’m still only eight points behind the lead of the drivers’ championship and we head to Turkey feeling confident that we’ll be more competitive there.”
Despite making a good recovery drive from the pitlane to finish in the points, Fernando Alonso is convinced of rival Michael Schumacher last corner move will result in a penalty. It’s down to the race stewards to make the final decision but in the meantime Autosport.com has the story with the double world champion.
Fernando Alonso is convinced Michael Schumacher will be penalised for his overtaking move on the final lap of the Monaco Grand Prix.
The FIA is currently investigating the incident after Schumacher passed Alonso on the final corner to take sixth place away from the Spaniard.
Alonso said his team had made it clear overtaking was not allowed because of the safety car situation and is expecting Schumacher to be penalised.
“The race was very good and in the end I still have a good feeling. The team told me we couldn’t overtake so when I saw Michael… That’s a lot better, as they will penalise him, so we will end up winning anyway,” Alonso told Spanish reporters after the race.
Alonso said he asked the team repeatedly about overtaking, as he was willing to pass Lewis Hamilton for fifth, and had been told that it was strictly forbidden.
Nonetheless, the Ferrari driver completed a brilliant recovery after having started from the pitlane, and he was very pleased with the result.
He was also critical of Virgin’s Luca di Grassi, whom he believes tried too hard to keep him behind.
“It was a good race,” Alonso added. “There were two key point that we had discussed. One was overtaking on track the six slow cars, the Lotus, the Virgin and the Hispania, and then with the strategy try to overtake as many cars as possible. Both things worked fine.
“I lost a few laps behind di Grassi, who must have thought the world championship was at stake in Monaco, but that’s up to him. And then the strategy was perfect and we could recover a lot of positions.
“It turned out a lot better than expected. And without those laps behind di Grassi I would have come out in front of Hamilton, so it was a perfect Sunday.”
The Spaniard, five points behind Mark Webber in the standings, said he was happy about the championship situation, but conceded Ferrari will need to raise its game to catch Red Bull.
“We have less points than we should have and that’s why we are not leading the championship. But it’s also true that the rivals have shared the wins a lot and no one is running away. We have Hamilton and the Mercedes behind us and we only have the Red Bulls ahead of us.
“As of today, under normal circumstances, they are unbeatable, but they have shared wins and bad luck between them so no one has run away and that’s the best news for us. But we are also realistic and we know we have to improve. We have to be quicker in qualifying and we have to win races like they do and let’s hope that happens soon.”
Michael Schumacher has been handed a 20-second penalty for having overtaken Fernando Alonso on the final corner of the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Mercedes GP driver passed Alonso just as the safety car had left the circuit on the final lap, and stewards deemed the race was still finishing under the safety car.
Under rule 40.13, which states that “if the race ends whilst the safety car is deployed it will enter the pitlane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking,” Schumacher has been given a penalty.
The German, who had passed Alonso for sixth, drops down to 12th, meaning Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi’s scores the final point for 10th.
Revised race results:
1. Webber Red Bull-Renault
2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault
3. Kubica Renault
4. Massa Ferrari
5. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
6. Alonso Ferrari
7. Rosberg Mercedes
8. Sutil Force India-Mercedes
9. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes
10. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari
11. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari
12. Schumacher Mercedes
13. Petrov Renault
World Championship standings, round 6:
Drivers:
1. Webber 78
2. Vettel 78
3. Alonso 75
4. Button 70
5. Massa 61
6. Hamilton 59
7. Kubica 59
8. Rosberg 54
9. Schumacher 22
10. Sutil 20
11. Liuzzi 10
12. Barrichello 7
13. Petrov 6
14. Alguersuari 3
15. Hulkenberg 1
16. Buemi 1
Constructors:
1. Red Bull-Renault 156
2. Ferrari 136
3. McLaren-Mercedes 129
4. Mercedes 78
5. Renault 65
6. Force India-Mercedes 30
7. Williams-Cosworth 8
8. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 4
Source: Autosport.com
F1 Fanatic has posted this latest news as well. Read the article here:
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2010/05/16/schumacher-handed-20-second-penalty-and-loses-points-finish/
With a change to the race results following the Michael Schumacher’s penalty, it is not a surprise to hear that the Mercedes GP team is appealing over the decision. Autosport.com provides the details.
The Mercedes GP team has decided to appeal the decision to penalise Michael Schumacher in the Monaco Grand Prix.
Schumacher lost his sixth-place finish after illegally overtaking Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso on the last corner of the last lap of the race.
The German was given a post-race drive-through which translated into a 20-second penalty that dropped him from sixth to 12th position.
Mercedes, however, has appealed the decision, which will now be handled by the FIA’s Court of Appeal.
The FIA said the appeal is strictly against the decision, not the penalty itself as drive-throughs cannot be appealed.
BBC Sport has posted an article on the Schumacher penalty. Video interviews included:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8685542.stm
OK so first off. Monaco rarely has truly great racing, there just isn’t the room to accommodate overtaking. So were are often left with a procession with the only action come from crashes and more so if it rains.
However, on this track, I don’t give a crap how few overtaking move there are. I just revel in watching these cars race round this most famous street circuit in the world. watching them get within millimetres of the side walls at over a 100mph sometimes is breathtaking. As is watching them fly round the chicanes in the swimming pool area. My god it’s cool. All I did was flick between the in car camera option round most of the track and the track cam at the mention chicanes. Just brilliant stuff and such history. One day, I WILL go there despite the huge costs involved. Maybe I’ll sell a kidney or something!
Now onto Mark Webber! Wow! After a simply stunning pole position, he was never troubled even after the many safety car re-starts. Though its not hard to get those wrong since it’s so hard to pass. but a brilliant drive and a brilliant 1-2 finish for Red Bull. At last they finally seem to be converting there great qualifying positions it seems taking last week results in Spain. Seeing them taking to the swimming pool after the race, it was evident, they were just a little bit happy! But then, Jesus, a 1-2 finish at Monaco, who can blame them?!
But oh dear McLaren. Leaving a cooling cover blocking a radiator?! But then, the grid is utter mayhem before the start and in this day and age with so much equipment attracted to the car, it’s hard to imagine that more stuff is not left on or in cooling vents etc. Lewis did OK finishing in the same position. he started in. But then, your an F1 driver, in Monaco, with a pretty good car, and you finish the race. That’s enough for most, as they all know its so hard to make up positions and so hard to not end up facing the wrong way with no wheels on your car………
Talking wheels lol. Rubin’o, Rubin’o. not only did all four of wheels get wiped out, so did his steering wheel when he throw it out on the track for what looked like an HRT car to drive over the £20K+ delicate piece of equipment. Luckily, the fact that his car had no wheels left to steer and the cranes are used to take the cars off the track. Otherwise, since it’s a rule you must leave the steering wheel on the car. anywhere else, I think he would have been fined. Of course the other Williams car didn’t too well either!
The rest of the field also dropped like flies and contributed to the many safety car instances. The first of course catapulted Alonso waaaaay up the the field. Fast forward to THAT overtake then.
Now as far as I see it, on first looks, Mercedes’ Schumacher had ample right to overtake. The last note sent to Ross Brawn was “track clear”. Since it was after the white line and the safety car was NOT on the track, AND the green light was showing, I felt it was a legitimate move. The problem comes with, when is a race classified to finish under the safety car and when is it not? The rules state, if a race if finished behind the safety car, you cannot overtake. Fine, no problem with that. But then why have the safety come into the pits? I’m sure in previous races in torrential rain, I’ve seen the safety car carry on PAST the start/finish line.
Then couple that with the race notes RB had, it’s not very clear is it?
it’s now to be read that the race was deemed to be finished behind the safety car, given that Schuey got punished. So WHY! tell the teams the track is clear.? WHY! have the safety car come into the pits? WHY show a green light BEFORE the last corner marker? It seems to me a big f*** up by Charley Whiting and co about the rules and Mercedes was unfairly punished. If those are the rules then fine. But it was by no means whatsoever clear rules. Now this being the case, ( and so clearly it was ) why on earth punish the driver for a complete confusion over the rules and irresponsible display of green flags/lights.
I’d be fine with not giving Schuey sixth place. But a post race drive through?!?! You have got to be kidding!
As DC mentioned on the forum after the race, what if Webber had a crash? Could no-one pass then? If he totaled his car, then I assume he is considered to “have left the track” and so you can overtake. Fine. But what if he just took a wheel out and he could slowly carry on? If a car can finish a race under it’s own steam, then it’s position stands. So with three wheels then, a safety car finish and Webber could still control the car and slowly make it to the checkered flag, then all the other racers just have to follow!?! What a load of utter bollocks!
Holy crap FIA, you just made me side with Michael Schumacher!!!
And on that note……..
But congrats to Mark.
Webber FTW!!
LOL OK so after watching RB’s comments and photo’s etc on the video on the BBC, it’s got me all fuming again!
There were GREEN FLAGS AND LIGHTS!!!!!!!! ergo, no safety car, ergo your free to race. That’s what the flags MEAN!!! Arrrrgh!
And you cant appeal against the penalty, only the decision?! So if this was the final race, and Shuey got enough points to win the championship, in 6th pos. But he got the penalty, Merc appealed and won, so the team was right and the FIA were wrong, but then Shuey still wouldn’t be champion?!
Who the f*** would want to get into F1?
The stewardship of this race weekend in general has been appalling.
No investigations were even instigated for Massa’s blocking of Button in Q3 , Rubens petulantly endangering other cars/drivers/marshals by throwing his steering wheel across the paths of other cars, Massa again for crossing the pit lane exit line during the race. When they finally decide they ought to earn their keep with the Schumacher incident then they come up with this!
The legality of Schumacher’s move pivots on whether race control has decreed that the race will end under yellow flags and the safety car. It is agreed that, since it was the last lap, the safety car would have pulled into the pits at that point come what may. However the in-car footage clearly showed both the green light AND waved green flags were displayed beyond the safety car line – this signals to the drivers that the race is ON. Alonso evidently thought so, otherwise he would not have accelerated too hard nor have fought both Schumacher and Rosberg on the entry and exit of the final corner.
The decision of the stewards obviously concludes that the race was supposed to have been completed under yellows. Then the fault clearly lies with Race Control giving the drivers the wrong instruction. There is no way that a driver should be penalized for obeying clear and unambiguous instructions from authority.
The FIA has learnt nothing from Melbourne 2009 and remains resolute to the believe that those overseeing the running of the race should not be seen as wrong . It’s preferable to penalize teams and drivers rather than undermine it’s righteous authority.
Either that or it really does have a Ferrari bias 😉
Thanks for the comments Invisiblekid and Wai about the lack of consistency with the penalties handed out by the race stewards.
Yet again the rules within Formula One has played its part in turning this harsh decision to uproar within the fans of the sport. Just take a look at the comments posted by F1 Fanatic following this penalty of Michael Schumacher. The article itself made some good valid points on why the current rules made the sport look ridiculous.
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2010/05/16/the-fias-badly-written-rules-leave-formula-1-looking-stupid-once-again/
As for the incident, why did race control and the track marshals wave the green flag even though the race would finish under safety car conditions? Both Ferrari and McLaren told their drivers (Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton) to hold station and not overtake. And yet Michael Schumacher and the Mercedes GP team believe it was possible to overtake thanks to the new location of the safety car line and the green flags being waved.
Being Michael, he took the initiative and pass his rival Fernando as the Ferrari slide wide under acceleration. That was a smart move by the seven-time world champion as he did that overtaking just as he went over that safety car line… But according to Jose Abed, Paul Gutjahr, Christian Calmes and Damon Hill (the race stewards at the Monaco Grand Prix), that moment on the last lap at the final corner broke the FIA rules and Michael was penalised with a twenty-second penalty. Was it harsh? Yes, as dropping from P6 down to P12 meant he lost all the points he scored for Mercedes GP.
So another controversy in Formula One. Where is the consistency in handed out penalties if the rules are not clear in the first place? Lets see if the Mercedes GP team can win their appeal at the courts.
An update on that Mercedes GP appeal against Schumacher’s penalty. Autosport.com has the details and the full story is shown below:
Mercedes GP has decided not to press ahead with its appeal against Michael Schumacher’s 20-second penalty at the Monaco Grand Prix, after the FIA agreed to talks about tidying up the safety car regulations.
Schumacher grabbed sixth place from Fernando Alonso at the final corner of the Monaco Grand Prix, shortly after the safety car had pulled into the pits at the end of the last lap.
The Mercedes GP team believed that the move was legitimate because racing is this season allowed from safety car line one at a safety car restart, rather than just from the start-finish line.
The FIA believed, however, that Schumacher’s move was not allowed because it breached Article 40.13 which states that no overtaking is allowed if the race finishes behind the safety car.
The rule says: “If the race ends whilst the safety car is deployed it will enter the pit lane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking.”
Mercedes GP argued that the race did not finish under the safety car because there were ‘Safety Car in this lap’ and ‘Track Clear’ messages from race control, plus green flags and lights after safety car line one – suggesting that racing had briefly restarted.
In a statement issued by Mercedes GP on Tuesday, the team stated: “This opinion appears to have been shared by the majority of the teams with cars in the top ten positions who also gave their drivers instructions to race to the finish line.”
The team’s claims were not supported by the race stewards in Monaco, however, who reported that Schumacher had breached Article 40.13 and handed him a 20-second penalty in lieu of a drive-through from the team. That dropped him down to 12th in the standings.
On Sunday night, Mercedes GP notified the FIA that it planned to appeal the stewards’ decision – even though drive-through penalties cannot in theory be protested. It needed to confirm its appeal plans by the end of Tuesday, but has decided not to follow it through.
In its statement, Mercedes GP said it understood why there could be differing interpretations of Article 40.13, which is why it welcomed an agreement from the FIA to discuss and clarify the rule at the next meeting of think-tank the Sporting Working Group.
“It was clear from our discussions with the stewards after the race that they understood the reasons for our interpretation and acknowledged that this was a new and previously untested situation but ultimately disagreed with our interpretation,” said a Mercedes GP statement.
“Mercedes GP would like to emphasise that we fully support the inclusion of past drivers on the stewards’ panel and are completely satisfied that the Monaco Grand Prix stewards acted professionally, impartially and properly in this matter.
“The FIA has agreed to include article 40.13 on the agenda of the next Sporting Working Group for discussion and to consider the scale of post race penalties. We believe that the 20-second penalty imposed on Michael to be disproportionate in the circumstances.
“Whilst we cannot be happy with the outcome, we are pleased that the FIA has recognised the reasons for our interpretation. Therefore in the best interests of the sport, Mercedes GP will not be submitting an appeal.”
F1 Fanatic has also posted details on this and can be read here:
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2010/05/18/mercedes-withdraws-schumacher-monaco-appeal/