Should Hamilton have been blackflagged or DQ'd?

Given the fuss with Sauber, should Hamilton have been blackflagged?

The barge board and other parts appeared to be clearly dragging on the ground, and ole David Hobbs and crew were making all sorts of comments that this would happen.

While clearly the damage was probably "unintentional", nevertheless appeared to present a safety hazard and may have contributed to better aerodynamics

So?

So far the FIA knocked out 4 cars, two before the race and two after the race, yet none appeared to present a safety hazard of having a major component come off

it would do some damage it it broke off and got shot out by the rear tyre

not sure if it would be big enough but if it dug in it could catapulted the car

meatball

No, that's stupid. I find it amusing, Mark, how you manipulate any on-track action as a negative towards McLaren.

The other 4 cars breached the rules.

I don't think the damage was intentional, but since there weren't indications of other parts falling off the car, the meatball flag was not warranted.

if he didnt break any rules i dont see why he should be d'qd

So what, now whenever a car gets damaged during a GP it should be disqualified on grounds of safety? Give me a break...

If a car breaks in such a way that it's performance is improved, then quite possibly, however I don't think I've ever seen such a situation, including this race.

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Originally Posted by RJL25

So what, now whenever a car gets damaged during a GP it should be disqualified on grounds of safety? Give me a break...

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If that tray had broken then there is a risk that it could have hit someone or that the car would have skidded on it, I think that's why people are querying whether there should at least having been direction to pit and remove it.

In regard to disqualifiction I think that this is more linked to the 'plank' which needs to be a certain thickness (I believe it's a rule that's linked in with ride height so that he chances of a Senna type accident are negated). Certainly Martin Brundle was questioning whether the dropping of the apron (for want of a better word) would mean that the plank would be getting damaged, something which Hamilton actually confirmed post-race. Evidentally the scrutes were happy enough with it though.

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Originally Posted by gloomyDAY

No, that's stupid. I find it amusing, Mark, how you manipulate any on-track action as a negative towards McLaren.

The other 4 cars breached the rules.

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No that was the opinion of the Speed channel talking heads,who were adament that Mr. Hamilton would be either black flagged or a DQ at the end of the day.

I thought they had a point as to the black flag. In addition, if no flag, there should have at least been an inspection by the FIA during a pit stop to ensure there was not any danger. If it were the carbon fiber "apron" then it was probably leaving carbon shards on track that could slice tires...as one could clearly see sparks from something beneath the car

Then it could have come even further lose, and really caused a big shunt.

^The sparks were coming from the plank as it was dragging on the ground. Watch the Singapor GP and you see these sparks all the time as its a very bumpy track. As for removing it, lol no! The front "tea tray" is part of the floor, you cant just tear off the whole floor because the front of it has come loose. The risk of it breaking off was negligable as long as Hamilton didnt go ridding over any big kerbs, which are few and far between at Albert Park.