Webber receives 10 car grid penality

[Dare]

you have to be kidding me

http://motorsportstalk.nbcsports.com/2013/09/22/webber-to-receive-grid-penalty-in-korea-after-catching-lift/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs

[Jericoke]

I reluctantly have to agree with the FIA here.  Either they take safety seriously, or they don't.

It's not a penalty for the ride, it's that the ride was a third strike, that cummulated to a 10 place grid drop.

I think that the Grand Prix Drivers Association needs to work out with the FIA how to arrange a ride safely.  It IS an iconic image of motorsports.  I'd hate to see it chased out.

[vintly]

Shoulda been a fine, not a grid penalty.

[Scott]

Shoulda been a fine, not a grid penalty.

If some penalty is necessary (of which I don't think anything more than a finger wave is needed), I would CERTAINLY rather see a fine than a 3rd reprimand.

[Wizzo]

I fail to see why an incident that happened after the race had finished would need a punishment that would ruin the next race for the driver in question.

[John S]

I think their hands are a bit tied with the rules as they are, by giving the lightest punishment, i.e. a reprimand, Webber is exposed to the bigger punishment in the totting up process but Nando isn't - hardly the stewards fault. Unfortunately they must stick to the rules or the whole system becomes a joke.

I've heard his team & others moaning about it, however I reckon Mark wont care about the penalty, he's now created a fantastic image from his last GP in Singapore.    He probably knew it could cause a penalty and I'm sure he has no regrets.

This kind of row is not reserved just for F1, in Footy (soccer) the totting up of cards shown by the ref has unusual consequences as well. The only real way to avoid bigger punishments at inopportune moments is by not committing any fouls in the first place. 

[John S]

Could this video explain why the stewards looked intently at what Mark lift from Fernando?   
Seems Mark flagged Nando down and caused a bit of confusion with cars around them. 

 

[cosworth151]

So we'll now now have a race at a boring Tilke-drome with Mark getting a 10 place grid penalty for doing, well, nothing, after a "race" at another boring Tilke-drome.

Lovely.

[Scott]

Hmmm, maybe he should get spanked instead of simply a finger waving.  That WAS a bit dangerous.  Why did he insist on getting in on the drivers side anyhow?  Was he expecting to driver the Ferrari? 

Oh, I forgot, he's an Aussie, he thought the passengers get in on the left.  Silly boy 

[Scott]

I wonder if Webber didn't purposely choose a Ferrari to sit on in his RBR gear.   

[cosworth151]

Tweet from Jenson Button:  "Disappointed to see the penalties for @AussieGrit [Webber] and @alo_oficial [Alonso], act of sportsmanship should not really be punished."

Maybe they should retroactively ding Senna & Mansell for the 91 British GP.

[Willy]

The rule is meant to be enforced but the interpretation of it could have been adjusted, as it was after the race.
The cars on a slowing lap did have to avoid Webber as he got on board Ferd's car so something had to be done.

[Alianora La Canta]

Webber nearly got flattened by Raikkonen. Had that happened, nobody would have cared what stage of the race it was - we'd just have been sad that Webber got injured trying to make a very dull race more memorable. Also, several cars were still racing each other at that point, having not yet seen the chequered flag, and I think at least two of them were behind Alonso at the time of pickup. The lift could have had result-altering consequences for innocent parties (fortunately, Alonso was alert for Marussias passing him and didn't block their way). In that light, the stewards had to penalise both Webber and Alonso for both safety and sporting reasons. This is exactly why the rules require marshal permission before pedestrians of any description enter a "live" track.

Alonso was lucky to get away with as light a penalty as they got, given that both he and Webber got reprimanded for the same action in Britain 2010. If anyone should have known this sort of behaviour wasn't allowed, it should have been them. It was a noble gesture with lousy implementation. Sadly, it may now have caused the "give drivers a lift" move to be banned altogether (until now, it's been allowed with marshal permission).

[vintly]

Another video:

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2013/09/24/new-video-shows-webbers-controversial-taxi-ride/

[Irisado]

I don't think that a grid penalty was the right penalty.  It wasn't safely executed by Webber, so a fine was definitely in order, but a grid penalty is over the top.  I think that the reprimands should be for on track incidents during the race, not for post race events such as this.