Webber loses point after penalty

[Dare]

from Planet F1

Jeri and myself commented on this during race chat


Mark Webber will leave Singapore empty-handed after he was hit with penalty post race.

The Red Bull driver scored one point at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on Sunday after finishing 10th, but he was called before the stewards following the race for an incident involving Kamui Kobayashi.

The two were battling during the closing stages when Webber went off track. He overtook the Sauber while doing it and stewards opted to punish him with a 20-second penalty after the race.

"Car #2 left the track and gained an advantage when he rejoined", said the stewards.

The penalty drops the Australian to 11th while Kobayashi's team-mate Sergio Perez moves up to 10th from 11.

[Scott]

DC said two wheels were still on the track, but I didn't see it that way.  Sorry for Mark, but I can see McNish's view to keep the rule consistent.

[Williamsfan]

Consistency has to be key in F1. Mark's poor run continues.

[Ian]

And Schumi has been hit with a 10 place grid penalty for crashing into the back of Vergne.

[Scott]

Smart move would have been to give it back to Kobi next turn and have another go a lap or two later.  There was still plenty of time, and Mark wasn't going to catch the next car anyhow.

[Scott]

And Schumi has been hit with a 10 place grid penalty for crashing into the back of Vergne.

Really?  Wow, I wonder what will happen if they find out there was a tech problem on his car that caused it.  To me it didn't look normal.  There is no way even Schumacher would have attempted an outside pass there with late braking.

[Williamsfan]

I'd hope they got all the relevant info from Mercedes about Schumi's car before issuing the penalty (although in F1 nothing surprises me!). Ross Brawn's reaction to the incident was kind of telling though, really shaking his head.  Loved the pit radio snippet they played!

[cosworth151]

According to the stewards' ruling, "The driver admitted the collision was his error due to the failure to anticipate the braking performance of the car with lower tyre grip following a safety car period." However, after the race, Schumi said that he didn't know why his brakes didn't slow the car as much as they should have.

The Webber-Koby incident took place on Lap 18 of a 60 lap race. What were the stewards doing for the last two thirds of the race? Why did they have to wait until it was too late to ding Mark? It really stinks.

[Monty]

I expected Mark to be hit with a penalty but I do hate these 'after the event' decisions.
These guys are risking their lives trying to get the best points result. If Mark knew that he was going to be demoted he could have chosen to ease up, look after the engine, etc. or possibly (but extremely unlikely) drive even harder to get an additional 20seconds ahead of of the nearest contender. Whichever way you look at it, having the place effectively taken away from you after the race is awful.

As for Schumacher (don't get me started) the guy is dangerous. Aparantly, telemetry showed that instead of braking at the 100m board he didn't apply the brakes until the 50m board. He could not have made the corner even if poor Jean-Eric wasn't there to be hit. Time to go Schumacher.

[Jericoke]

And Schumi has been hit with a 10 place grid penalty for crashing into the back of Vergne.

Really?  Wow, I wonder what will happen if they find out there was a tech problem on his car that caused it.  To me it didn't look normal.  There is no way even Schumacher would have attempted an outside pass there with late braking.

F1 is a team sport.  If Schumacher is allowed on track in a dangerous car, then a 10 spot penalty is quite generous for the Mercedes team.

I agree that it looked like it wasn't Schumacher's mistake per se, but in the real world the following driver is always responsible in a crash, seems consistent for the safety minded FIA to do so on track.

[cosworth151]

It looks like Schumi has the brakes fully locked and smoking all four tires. Full marks to Jean-Éric Vergne for his sportsman-like approach to Schumacher after the accident. A true gentleman. 

(Look quickly before Bernie pulls it down)

[Scott]

But even Schumacher agreed that he had to stomp on the brakes after they apparently didn't work. 

But like it has been said, it was certainly Schumacher's fault if the brakes did work, and it was just his error to not notice that there wasn't enough heat in the tires or the brakes before flying into a mass of cars.

[stealthhaggis]

Looked like the car stepped out just as he started breaking, funny he has done that twice at that track!

[Irisado]

The penalty for Webber didn't surprise me at all.  I'm surprised that it wasn't issued during the race though, as it looked pretty clear cut to me.

As for Schumacher, he's had a number of near misses, and three crashes into other cars through braking too late, since his return in 2009, so I think that he's trying to drive on his reactions too much, and not taking account of the fact that his reactions will naturally be slightly less sharp than they were during his Ferrari and Benetton days.

[John S]

The penalty for Webber didn't surprise me at all.  I'm surprised that it wasn't issued during the race though, as it looked pretty clear cut to me.

I think there was a complicating factor, Mark could not easily give the place back immediately as Kobi was jumped by another car, possibly two, right after Mark had passed him.

I reckon the stewards were letting things unfold rather than giving Mark a very costly drive thru at that stage, if Mark or Kobi failed to finish no action, but since they both did a 20 sec penalty became inevitable.