Hamilton and Kovalainen deducted five grid places. Disaster strikes Mclaren

[raindancer]

Hamilton and Kovalainen deducted five grid places
Saturday 22nd March 2008

Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen will drop five grid places for Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix after the duo were found guilty of impeding Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso.

The incident occurred when both drivers slowed down after crossing the line with seconds left of qualifying. By remaining on the racing line, they were adjudged to have impeded Heidfeld and Alonso, who were starting their final flying laps.

Hamilton will now begin the 56-lap race from ninth place, while Kovalainen will start in eighth after the pair initially qualified fourth and third respectively.

The pair were asked to report to stewards after an angry Heidfeld, who qualified seventh, complained to race officials at the conclusion of the session.

Hamilton was subsequently found guilty of impeding the BMW Sauber driver by 'travelling at a very slow speed on the racing line', while Kovalainen was also charged with committing the same offence against the German and Renault driver Alonso.

But Hamilton felt he was not at fault although he did apologise to Heidfeld.

"I was pretty much out of the way," he said upon emerging from the meeting.

"If I held him up then I apologise for that."

McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh also defended both drivers, insisting they did the best they could under the circumstances.

"There was clearly an issue there and it's unfortunate," he said.

"If you look at the footage, our guys squeezed in as much as they could and slowed and we don't think they impaired Nick.

"He complained to the stewards. Nick was in fact quickest in all three sectors on that lap and I don't think he was unduly impaired, but I can understand his view that having all of those cars around when you're trying to concentrate on a quick lap isn't ideal.

"Neither of our drivers did it intentionally and did what they could to squeeze over and allow Nick and Fernando to do their quick laps."

However, a clearly frustrated Heidfeld refuted their explanation, insisting McLaren's actions cost him third place on the grid for tomorrow's race.

"If they did the best that they could do, they didn't do very well," he said.

"I was approaching my last lap on the option tyre and it would have been my quickest lap if not for the McLarens driving in the middle of the racing line at 80kph.

"I lost time. I made the corner but it cost me one and a half tenths for sure.

"It's pretty dangerous as well, other cars were moving pretty slowly but they were off line.

"The McLarens were just before or in the braking zone so it was difficult to find my braking point."

McLaren did, however, accept the punishment, underlining it was just an unfortunate racing incident.

A team statement read: "We accept the steward's decision but would like to add that neither Lewis nor Heikki impaired any of their competitors deliberately.

"It was an unfortunate incident - nothing more, nothing less. We look forward to tomorrow's race.

[john f]

This was caused by the new Q3.  They needed to conserve fuel.  Both drivers came of the turn and could not see Hied comeing up behind them.  They were told to conserve fuel.  This penalty will have influence on all the Q3s in the future.

[Andy B]

Q3 is an accident waiting to happen so change is needed, can you imagine fuel saving at Monaco while 2 or 3 others are on hot laps?

[J.Clark]

I tend to disagree with it being the new Q3.  The only real difference in Q3 this year is the length of time it lasts.  Drivers slowed to conserve fuel last season too after completing the final hot lap.

Here is a clip from youtube that shows Kubica off line and the two McLarens on the race line.  Only after Heidfeld passes them does Hamilton move over, but Kovalainen does not. Alonso can be seen racing up behind the three of them and my guess is that even if Kovi moves off line, they all get to that next turn at about the same time.  It means that the two McLaren drivers, for whatever reason were not mindful of the other drivers trying to improve their position on the grid.



Also posted in the Sepang qual/race thread.

[Ian]

I think it was justified, the MClarens should have been on the other side of the track off of the racing line. This is a serious accident waiting to happen.