F1 drivers face tougher penalties

[Cooper_S]

Look away Daniel this kind of stuff is clearly NOT for you.

[ArrowsFA1]

I think the drivers have always seen the rather weak penalties as an excuse to give it a go as usually you can take a rival out and generally not loose too much as a grid penalty can usually be offset with a good pit strategy.

True. Drivers, like the teams, will always test the limits of the regulations. However, in much the same way as FOTA has brought a degree of cooperation among the teams that did not exist before I think the drivers, via the GPDA, need to take on a greater role in policing their own driving standards.

The FIA introducing more and more regulations telling drivers what they can and cannot do is not the way forward IMHO.

[SGWilko]

is Senna actually the sort of driver we want in this day and age?

You know, it's funny how Senna is always cited in such situations.

He was certainly no saint. But what he was, was the closest thing you will get to a 'perfect' race driver in terms of talent, racecraft, mechanical and technical understanding and compassion.

You have to look at his contretemps with Prost in Suzuka without the blinkers on. Consider why he felt he 'had' to do what he did because of the bloody mindedness of the then FIA head.....

Don't go knocking Senna when others have come along since and driven much, much worse. And shame on the FIA for not having the backbone to stamp it out before it was allowed become acceptable.......

[Daniel]

No one is saying that we can't have close racing or indeed a little bit of contact, just that there's a difference between banging wheels and knocking your opponents wheels off.

[BDunnell]

He was certainly no saint. But what he was, was the closest thing you will get to a 'perfect' race driver in terms of talent, racecraft, mechanical and technical understanding and compassion.

Closer than Fangio or Clark?

[SGWilko]

Closer than Fangio or Clark?

Of his era.......

[Rusty Spanner]

I've got mixed feelings about this. There are already existing rules that cover driving standards but the issue has been the inconsistent application of those rules and the differing penalties applied at different times. Creating more rules does not solve that issue.

Have the rules really changed or have they just expanded the penalties available to the stewards for dangerous driving? Not sure.

Anyway I basically agree with you the problem hasn't been that dangerous driving was allowed because it wasn't. The stewards often didn't have the appropriate experience or qualifications to make the judgement. At least now there is an Ex driver advising the stewards and hopefully that will continue to improve things in the future.

[ArrowsFA1]

At least now there is an Ex driver advising the stewards and hopefully that will continue to improve things in the future.

Agreed, and their introduction received widespread support this year.

[Cooper_S]

Monaco aside... they passed unnoticed

[Daniel]

I quite agree and this pretty much sums up this thread.

My original point was in relation to the stance that 'unsporting behaviour' could lead to a driver being banned for a race. We've had a recent history of stewards making harsh decisions one week, and ignoring them the next which is unacceptable even if occassionally it favours our favourite driver. I think if drivers are banned, it has to be pretty serious and in the last few years the only situations where I would condone a driver being banned for any period of time were Oz 2009 where Lewis lied to the stewards, and last season with Schumacher forcing Ruben's too close to the pit wall. Both situations were different as one was cheating, and the other was putting a drivers life in danger, but both worthy of such a penalty IMO.

I just don't want a 'ban' being a regular thing which ultimately denies the fans a great race if top drivers are missing. Since Todt has been in charge I do feel the standard of stewarding has been raised and the guest, ex driver stewards have been a relative success IMO. I just hope it stays that way, and the murky side of the FIA doesn't abuse this power.

I more or less agree with you. I'm not suggesting that this develops into Football where one person falls over and feigns death to get the other guy red carded. I'm simply saying that the penalties should be severe when there is a serious incident. At the moment it seems like you could just intentionally drive into someone at full speed whilst they're braking for a corner and get away with a 10 place grid drop. Of course no one's going to do that but it illustrates my point.

Should the penalty for this -> http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/8875370.stm just be a 10 place grid drop? For a lot of drivers in top teams a 10 place grid drop can be easily offset by a different race strategy.

People like Cooper S seem to somehow think that I somehow don't want to see decent duels like the one between Villeneuve and Arnoux and Button and Hamilton this year, it's not that at all! My main complaint with F1 is that there isn't enough of this and I want more racing, but I think there should be consequences when someone does get it stupidly wrong.

This argument is like saying that someone who doesn't agree with the war in Iraq is anti-American because those Taliban types are anti-American so they must be too. Can we try and keep the debate to what people actually say rather than what we think they're saying or indeed what we want to hear them saying. Going from me saying that incidents like Webber and Vettel coming together, Schumacher squeezing Rubens and Webber using Heikki as a launching ramp SHOULDN'T be allowed to happen unpenalised (in relative terms) and that Button and Lewis in Turkey were a good example of how it's done to saying that I don't want to see racing like the epic battle between Arnoux and Villeneuve is a big jump to say the least!!!!!!

Personally I think a ban would have been harsh on Lewis and McLaren, what they did was stupid to say the least but I think it was just an honest mistake which ended up developing into a lie that never really needed to. I don't think what took place on the track was done in a conscious effort to cheat. I love to criticise Hamilton so I'd like to think that this says something about how small an issue that incident was.