The new 5 second F1 penalty rule - Good or Bad?

[John S]

Seems we've missed talking about it on here, so what do we think? 

For anyone who hasn't heard there is a new penalty in F1 this year for  the race stewards to use on 'delinquents' in the race:- at a pit stop a penalised car will take a 5 second penalty before the guys can work on it to change wheels etc. 

However they haven't said which transgressions will incur a 5 secs penalty as opposed to a drive thru, or even a stop go. 
Still the thinking is moving in the right direction to avoid wrecking a drivers race for a minor infraction, so it gets my vote. 

[Scott]

I think one of the biggest problems in stewarding is the consistency.  They should appoint a permanent team of stewards for the entire season, but most importantly, have them - either immediately after a race, or maybe before the next race - explain their race penalties in public and with representatives from the penalized teams present and able to ask how and why the penalties were assessed. 

The actual amount of lost track time for stop-n-go's or drive thru's varies so much from track to track that the same penalty for the same breach from one track to another doesn't even dish out the same punishment.

[cosworth151]

Allowing the 5 sec. to be on a regular pit stop would cost a driver less time than a drive through.

I definitely agree with Scott about the stewards. The inconsistency is maddening.

[Scott]

The 5sec penalty is at least a variation that doesn't crush a race, I just hope they don't hand them out to get backmarkers out of the mix (call it a 5sec blue flag).

[J.Clark]

At least in theory, it seems a good idea, but as was stated, we don't know for what infraction a driver would be given this penalty.

[Jericoke]

Sounds like once you're done with your pitstops, you've got free reign to make '5 second' infractions all afternoon.

[Scott]

Sounds like once you're done with your pitstops, you've got free reign to make '5 second' infractions all afternoon.

  Good point Jeri.

[Irisado]

Sounds like once you're done with your pitstops, you've got free reign to make '5 second' infractions all afternoon.

That's what it sounds like to me too.

What happens if a penalty that would normally incur a five second penalty during a pit stop occurs in the closing stages of the race, after all the pit stops are over?  Will it be added to the race time?

Also, what sort of breaches of the rules are going to be governed by this penalty?  It all seems a bit ad hoc to me. 

[vintly]

Devil's in the details as always, no point speculating. Ok, I'll speculate. If pit stops are over then the penalty becomes a drive-through, simples.

[lkjohnson1950]

Isn't the whole penalty system a bit ad hoc?

[Jericoke]

Isn't the whole penalty system a bit ad hoc?

Most other sports have the luxury of pausing for a moment to sort things out as fairly as possible.

Even assigning a 5 second penalty 100% consistantly (  ) isn't exactly fair.  If a race finishes behind a safety car, then 5 seconds can cost a few place.  If a race finishes in the rain, there might be 20 seconds between cars, and the same 5 second penalty is meaningless.

I think that points penalties might be the only 'fair' way to do things.  It allows for a post race appeal that a stop and go simply cannot be made up for.  Obviously dangerous cars still need to be taken off track, and illegally gained positions must be returned, but many other infractions can be handled with points intead of time penalties.

(Yes, it means a Marussia ignoring blue flags might end the season with negative points.  Bernie can amend Concorde to make a team pay in if they finish in negative points!  It will also make teams think twice about letting a wreckless driver cost them points)

[cosworth151]

Sounds like once you're done with your pitstops, you've got free reign to make '5 second' infractions all afternoon.

"They've announced that, if the driver has finished with pitstops, the five seconds will be added to the car's total time for the race.

The regulations say: “The driver must enter the pit lane, stop at his pit for at least five seconds and then re-join the race. The relevant driver may however elect not to stop, provided he carries out no further pit stop before the end of the race. In such cases five seconds will be added to the elapsed race time of the driver concerned.

Later they add: “Whilst a car is stationary in the pit lane as a result of incurring a penalty [as above] it may not be worked on until the car has been stationary for at least five seconds.”

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20140217/f1/140219842#ixzz2tlnMAbOk

[Irisado]

So, if no more pit stops are required, drivers receive less of a penalty?  Am I reading that correctly?  Slowing down to the pit lane speed limit, and then having to stop and rejoin costs a lot more time than just having five seconds added to the race time at the end.  This strikes me as a very poor rule.

[cosworth151]

They would be tacking an extra 5 seconds onto an existing pit stop. The in and out laps would be the same if the penalty didn't exist. The pit stop would be simply 5 seconds longer. that's why they'll just add the extra 5 seconds to the car's total time if there are no more pit stops, to avoid the extra time of a stop & go.

[Irisado]

I see, thank you .  They could do with making that a bit clearer in the rules in my opinion.