Vettel Japan Penalty

[lkjohnson1950]

FIA stupidity will likely end Vettel's fading hopes for a 2017 championship. His accident with Stroll post race Malaysia will cost him a 5 spot grid penalty for a transmission change.

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2017/10/02/vettel-likely-get-grid-penalty-suzuka/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+f1fanatic+%28F1+Fanatic+-+The+Formula+1+Blog%29

[Scott]

Totally agree with you Lonny.  It was an unexpected accident that happened after the race had finished and the damage caused shouldn't have any penalties applied.  It's about the same as if a lift failed getting a car into a transporter and broke the car, or a truck backing into it. 

[Jericoke]

Totally agree with you Lonny.  It was an unexpected accident that happened after the race had finished and the damage caused shouldn't have any penalties applied.  It's about the same as if a lift failed getting a car into a transporter and broke the car, or a truck backing into it. 

Except if Ferrari dropped the car, they'd still be penalized.

Even though I agree the spirit of the rule compromises the sport, I also feel if drivers can get a 'free' upgrade after an accident we'll see more bumper cars during the cool down laps.  It sucks for Ferrari/Seb/Fans, but it's the right thing to do in the name of safety.

[Alianora La Canta]

Totally agree with you Lonny.  It was an unexpected accident that happened after the race had finished and the damage caused shouldn't have any penalties applied.  It's about the same as if a lift failed getting a car into a transporter and broke the car, or a truck backing into it. 

Except if Ferrari dropped the car, they'd still be penalized.

Even though I agree the spirit of the rule compromises the sport, I also feel if drivers can get a 'free' upgrade after an accident we'll see more bumper cars during the cool down laps.  It sucks for Ferrari/Seb/Fans, but it's the right thing to do in the name of safety.

Unfortunately, the failure to penalise Stroll for driving right on a left-hand bend means there's no incentive for drivers to avoid tangles unless they think their car will fare worse than their opponent's (and none at all if it's due a free gearbox, or the team already expects a load of engine penalties anyway).

[lkjohnson1950]

Under the current rules the penalty may be correct, but the rules are stupid. So many penalties were applied at Monza qually was almost meaningless. F1 is not an endurance test, that's the WEC (where they change gearboxes with no penalty). It's supposed to represent the pinnacle in performance. Let them change whatever they want. 

[Robem64]

The change to cars etc has meant a far more exciting season for all spectators - it also generates interest for those on the edges of interest too. When it's nip and tuck between drivers and teams then that's a great advert for the sport.

These stupid grid penalty rules are in danger of undoing all the excitement which has been injected back into the sport. They run the risk here of the championship being decided by off track penalties rather than on track dualling and that can't be good for the sport.

[Ian]

Whether we agree or not, a gearbox has to last for 6 consecutive races or you get the penalty.

[lkjohnson1950]

Vettel will test the gearbox in practice, but they think it will be OK. There's something wrong with F1 when you have to run a suspect gearbox to avoid a penalty, especially when it's crash damage. What if it breaks at the start and causes a serious multi car accident?

[cosworth151]

Looks like there will be no penalty. Ferrari has found a way out. Replace the out side & keep the inside.

"Only the outer casing of the gearbox was damaged," a Ferrari source said. "That can be replaced without a penalty. It's our best news in weeks."

http://autoweek.com/article/formula-one/report-no-f1-gearbox-penalty-sebastian-vettel-japan

[Dare]

Vettel's made his bed with plenty of bad decisions so
his WDC loss is all his own fault

[cosworth151]

Here's a better explanation of how it works. Very interesting.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/technical/2017/10/tech-insight---why-vettel-didnt-need-a-new-gearbox-after-stroll-.html

[Alianora La Canta]

Whether we agree or not, a gearbox has to last for 6 consecutive races or you get the penalty.

Unless you get a DNF in any of those races, in which case you get a free replacement of said gearbox. However, post-race crashes don't result in DNFs...

[Andy B]

Totally agree with you Lonny.  It was an unexpected accident that happened after the race had finished and the damage caused shouldn't have any penalties applied.  It's about the same as if a lift failed getting a car into a transporter and broke the car, or a truck backing into it. 

Except if Ferrari dropped the car, they'd still be penalized.

Even though I agree the spirit of the rule compromises the sport, I also feel if drivers can get a 'free' upgrade after an accident we'll see more bumper cars during the cool down laps.  It sucks for Ferrari/Seb/Fans, but it's the right thing to do in the name of safety.

Unfortunately, the failure to penalise Stroll for driving right on a left-hand bend means there's no incentive for drivers to avoid tangles unless they think their car will fare worse than their opponent's (and none at all if it's due a free gearbox, or the team already expects a load of engine penalties anyway).

Stroll was proven to be free from blame it was purely a Vettel mistake once again and his instant reaction was to blame Stroll, Vettel's aggressive driving has been a down side of the season.