There are teams in F1 other than Ferrari and McLaren for goodness sake!!!
Williams haven't won much for a while...perhaps the FIA are biased against them. Force India have made good progress this year; does that mean the rules were introduced to help them? Renault won in 2005-6 so obviously the FIA favoured them, that is until they chose not too last year.
I think that sometimes Ferrari gets better treatment, sometimes McLaren. I see no bias. In my opinion the changes after 2002 and 2004 ruined Ferrari's advantage and this is far worse than the scandal in Belgium. In my opinion McLaren were not punished severely enough last year and in my opinion they still benefit from that Ferrari' knowledge this year. So I really think that they should have been banned for these two years. But on the other hand it would have been bad for the show.
This year FIA also took some decisions which are bad for the show. My main problem is that these things are decided much too slow. In Valencia we had to wait almost two hours to learn whether Massa wins, or not. In Belgium we still don't know who won. After an accident happens, give the punishment immediately or do nothing. This wait is very annoying and makes the races pretty pointless.
But I can't see any bias. Only bad organization.
Quote:
Originally Posted by F1boat
You may be onto something here.
Although I disagree with your conclusions on Spygate, you have raised some interesting points.
It is my opinion that Max is more predisposed to come down hard on McLaren than Ferrari. There seems to be a lot of circumstantial evidence but no proof.
Does this mean that the FIA favours Ferrari or is it just poor management as you suggest?
Not sure.
Looking at Chicanegate, the Stewards were correct in that Lewis cut the chicane. That is what they have ruled on and they imposed a penalty that was also correct.
(Bet there’s some selective quoting of that sentence ;) )
Now, does this show a predisposition to favour Ferrari or penalize McLaren?
Well, taken as a specific instance, then no, it doesn’t but used in context, it raises some fundamental issues.
The “understanding”, because it’s damn near impossible to get clarification out of the FIA, is that if you pass someone by going off track, you give the place back.
That happened and McLaren checked twice through the correct channels that they were OK.
That should have been the end of it but as we know it wasn’t.
The stewards seemed to have acted on something with no justification of precedent. In fact, it seems completely at odds with recognized process and procedure. It “appears” like rules are not being applied fairly and consistently.
This is why there is uproar.
People like Nicki Lauda and Pat Symmonds are respected within the sport and if they are saying this is wrong, then they really need to be listened to.
The FIA needs to manage this. If it is a decision that they agree with, they need to say why it stands, explain why this has been handled in a way that is different with past precedent and ensure everyone is clear on what is expected in the future because at the moment, there is not this clarity.
The fact we are in this mess is due to poor management and this can be rectified. If it isn’t then it will continue to damage the credibility of the FIA and further call into account their ability to govern the sport.
There must be consistency and Stewards need to be accountable for their decisions.
In this specific example, the Race Director should have referred it to the Stewards or the Stewards should have informed the Race Director of their intentions to investigate. That’s the rules.
Had that have been done, then McLaren could have let Kimi back past again (even though this is not a sanctioned penalty within the rules) or decided to do a drive through on their own volition.
The only problem is that the way the Stewards issued their judgment; it is quite likely that the time penalty would have stood. They made no allowance for any effort McLaren made to rectify the situation and merely stated the rules.
He cut the corner and as it was within 5 laps, a 25 second penalty is the punishment. That is the letter of the law and nothing McLaren could have done to amend was considered.
This situation is unprecedented.
:up:Quote:
Originally Posted by ArrowsFA1
Couldn't agree more. Talk of bias is for people who just can't handle when a driver or team breaks a rule or simply can't get a car together to do well in a season.
I'm more inclined to believe it was a cock-up rather than a conspiracy. But a bloody great big cock-up which needs overturning.
So , now you can do this , obviously .
All you drivers , feel free to drive straight through those chicanes so you can get the tow into the next corner .
As long as you let the other guy through for a moment , you can use that draft to get by , by doing this , whereas you might not get close enough if you follow them through .
That seems to be the general feeling here , although we might want to wait for the decision from the FIA .
:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Bagwan
Bagwan please look again at this video and let me know where exactly Lewis used any draft ?Quote:
Originally Posted by Bagwan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXVT4CO6ALM
If Lewis said himself that he got into the tow of Kimi why can't you guys accept he did?Quote:
Originally Posted by Tonieke
What would Lewis know? :confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by Viktory