Alonso/Hamilton Penalties – Are you kidding me?!

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Home » F1 Blog » April 10 2011 at 22:33 | posted by James Wilson | 30 comments made so far - add one
Photo: Alonso/Hamilton Penalties – Are you kidding me?!

‘Harsh’ doesn’t quite describe it...

First of all – let me just say what a fantastic race I thought the 2011 Malaysia Grand Prix was. It had a bit of everything and I totally believe the right man won – Vettel is supreme at the moment!

Secondly – I want you to know that I am a big Lewis Hamilton fan, and in general I don’t look too favourably on Fernando Alonso. He’s a great driver but I personally question his character all too often. But anyway..

The two penalties

Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton both got summoned to the stewards after the race and eventually each received a 20 second time penalty for two separate incidents. I have to say that both of these seem rather harsh and here is why...

Fernando Alonso

When the race finished I actually thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be cruel if Alonso got penalised for the Hamilton incident, despite him losing out himself in the race”. And that is exactly what happened! Fernando made a genuine mistake by pulling out too late of Hamilton’s tow on the way to turn 3. The result was the Spaniard losing his front wing, and Lewis carrying on completely unaffected.

What justification is there to further penalise a driver that has already penalised himself and hasn’t wrecked anyone else’s race? Surely the point of a penalty is to try and disadvantage a driver if he has disadvantaged a fellow competitor? Apparently not! As I said above, I’m not Alonso’s greatest fan but I deem that incredibly unjustified.

Lewis Hamilton

Weaving on the straight? Oh how this one frustrates me! I had many arguments in favour of Hamilton’s weaving last year in Malaysia when he tried to break the Vitaly Petrov’s tow. And that is the key point – he was weaving to break a tow, not to block a car, which I do agree, IS dangerous. I see weaving to break a tow as something a driver should be allowed to do to actually stop them being in the position to be passed in the first place. The pit straight at Sepang is probably the widest in Formula 1, but the officials clamp down on drivers using it to maximum.

Hamilton summed it up quite nicely though by saying "From my side I'm not allowed to move more than once. Do I class it as dangerous? No, but that's the rule." If a rule is there and you break it, expect a punishment. But he’s right; it isn’t dangerous so one might call the rule B.S.

I may favour one driver over another but I believe they worth both harshly treated today. What’s your view on it?

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Recent comments on this article:

#1 Jimmy@enterF1 | 10 Apr 2011, 22:35 Reply »

Make no mistake, I realise not everyone will agree with me, but I'd love to hear your views on both penalties handed out.

Harsh or justified?

#2 eaurouge | 11 Apr 2011, 02:11 Reply »

I tend to agree. What is the deal that a bunch of old men many of whom are in the FIA only because of some political favor and who have never experienced competition in a venue like F1, although I doubt most of them have done no more than get a speeding ticket, making rules that bear no relationship to what goes on in a F1 competition? In my view, this was a simple racing incident, nothing more. As a has been SCCA FB driver, the only reason I followed the rules when competing was so I could race! FIA needs to populate the ENTIRE stewards committee with racers and let the drivers, notwithstanding the teams who are pouring all the money into the sport so the FIA, and we, can enjoy the show, get on with it. Drivers at most levels of competition generally know what is safe and what is simplu trying to compete. My $0.02 worth.

#3 syed | 11 Apr 2011, 06:17 Reply »

Oh my God! I have no words to describe the stewards' actions. Ok ham may have been on the borderline of the rules or may hv even broken them but what abt alonso. That was ridiculous unjustified n utter b.s.

#4 edgeslo | 11 Apr 2011, 07:54 Reply »

I'm a Luis fan and let's say i can understand why he was penalised, but if he was weaving , what is Vettel doing right after the start ? He changes side no less than 4 times..

Fia sucks... there are rules for some driver that don't apply to others ?

Penalty given to Alonso are even more stupid ....

#5 Syed | 11 Apr 2011, 08:36 Reply »

Lewis' penalty is perhaps fine but what about Alonso. He didn't ruin Lewis' race. And with the coming together he hurt himself, from a potential 3rd he ended up 6th. Then what's the point of a penalty you knuclehead stewards. I know for a fact that we have one ex racer/driver in the stewards' panel, who in the hell was he and was he asleep.

I think FIA should get a huge backlash for this bloody nonsense.

#6 Jon | 11 Apr 2011, 10:53 Reply »

While I disagree with the weaving penalties I must say Lewis shoudl have known better since he got reprimanded for the same thing with Petrov. As it stands the FIA expects a "racing" driver to give way to the one initiating a move which is utter BS!

A race should be just that a RACE, if we carry on like this we'll soon see F1 cars sporting indicators and brakelights...

Re Vettel weaving it was done at the start and he did not cross from one side to the other, just short lefts and rights to discourage a pass which is okay at the start plus he only moved wide to make the corner at the end.

The FIA rulebook needs to be re-written that's one thing for sure and I don't wish to be dragged on why, DRS, KERS, Tyres all this crap that is actually making overtaking worse not better.

#7 Jimmy@enterF1 | 11 Apr 2011, 10:59 Reply »

I agree with you Jon that Hamilton should have known better because of 2010. I disagree with the rule, but don't break it if you know it exists.

I still actually can't believe they penalised Alonso, even though he risked taking out my favourite driver... it just seems utterly mad to slap some one who has already slapped themselves!

#8 MartyP | 11 Apr 2011, 11:12 Reply »

The FIA seemed very lenient last year, and I think that was a positive step, so it's a shame to see any penalties at all. I agree with eaurouge that many of the stewards aren't qualified to be making decisions on racing incidents.

However, I'm going to risk sounding anti-Hamilton because I believe Alonso's penalty was unfair, and Hamilton's wasn't.

Alonso's mistake did not impact anyone else. If he had damaged Hamilton's car, or had done something like push Lewis off the track, then a penalty would be fair enough, but his actions only impacted his own race. I also think a lot of similar incidents have gone unpunished in the past so it seems a little inconsistent to me. On top of that, heavily punishing driver for slight contact is not going to encourage close racing. I think Alonso should have received a reprimand at worst, certainly not a penalty.

Whilst I think a reprimand would also have been OK for Lewis, I don't think his penalty was unjust. I don't think he did anything even remotely dangerous, but I am a firm believer that drivers defending their position should choose one line and stick to it. Even though Hamilton wasn't "blocking" Alonso by changing his line (and was perhaps just trying to break the slipstream) he was still defending his position. The rule exists to keep the racing fair between an attacking driver and a defending driver, so I've got no issue with it being enforced. I just hope this means the rule will be applied consistently from here on, and that all drivers will be penalised for changing their lines in future, not just Lewis.

#9 Jimmy@enterF1 | 11 Apr 2011, 11:23 Reply »

I wish there was a quicker/better way to inform the public that drivers could face punishment after the race. I don't know what lap Hamilton did the weaving, but it certainly wasn't right at the end. The FIA have more than enough time to announce on the world feed which drivers could face a possible *result altering* punishment. Half the people I spoke to yesterday afternoon had no idea Lewis had been demoted.

#10 Jon | 11 Apr 2011, 11:55 Reply »

You are right that it might be dangerous to weave but then what do we F1 fans cry about the most? The LACK of overtaking and end up comparing nowadays to the exciting era of Senna/Prost etc. but then again at that era it was exciting cause of just that, the WEAVING and epic battles. With the F1 cars as safe as they are today I don't see why a bit of a battle for gaining/defending a position should be punished or dictated by a rule book.

#11 Jon | 11 Apr 2011, 12:11 Reply »

The stewards have a time limit on how long after the race they can issue punishment. Not sure how long though. There might be more than one thinks related to how it was handed out. Probably Ferrari complained about Hamilton's weaving and as a counter complaint McLaren argued that Alonso's hitting Lewis was dangerous [?!?] hence the long time for the penalties to be dished out...

#12 Jimmy@enterF1 | 11 Apr 2011, 12:19 Reply »

Just out of interest, I watched the second half of the Indy Car series race from Alabama last night and the incidents and overtaking in that race was very good! It seemed every driver was willing to have a go and put their car on the line.

I think those drivers are seriously struggling with double file restarts as there was a crash on about 4 or 5 occasions, even after I tuned in so late! But good battles none the less..

#13 Jon | 11 Apr 2011, 12:30 Reply »

exactly! I was gonna mention it but some people think that Indy series is inferior to F1 for whatever odd reason. They have machines which weigh twice as much as our F1 cars, they fight in the true meaning of the word "fight" for a position and no one ever complains about accidents.

Maybe our F1 cars are just too fragile and choked with regulations to be as exciting?

#14 jose | 11 Apr 2011, 12:32 Reply »

I totally agree with you, the only difference is that i like alonso better than hamilton, but alonso himself said that hamilton drove a great race and defended his position perfectly, what the hell is going on? i agree that alonso made an honest mistake, he lost a couple of position with that incident but i do agree, hamilton shouldnt have been penalized for that, he drove an excelent race and defended his position like one of the big ones!!

#15 Jimmy@enterF1 | 11 Apr 2011, 12:32 Reply »

haha something tells me I could put up an article title "Which is better or more exciting, Formula 1 or Indy Car?", leave the content completely blank and let the comments write the article itself!!! Maybe one for another day... a slow F1 news day!!

#16 Jon | 11 Apr 2011, 12:38 Reply »

Lol I'm sure plenty of people would have something to say about it. Maybe it's the reason why F1 never really took off in the USA, with so much redtape involved during a race interest would die off quickly.

#17 Ray | 11 Apr 2011, 13:00 Reply »

Penalty on Alonzo was too easy - this guy is always hitting or pushing, besides when he hit Ham he broke Ham's rear floor!

#18 Damian J | 11 Apr 2011, 13:06 Reply »

Hamiltons' undertray was damaged by Alonso's accident so his race was further compromised by that collision. It was fair decision to punish Alonso for dangerous driving.

#19 Jon | 11 Apr 2011, 13:59 Reply »

doesn't seem like he hit anything besides the rear tyre from this angle:

http://www.streetfire.net/video/hamilton-alonso-battle-and-crash-sepang-2011_2236657.htm

Move to 3.50 in the clip to get right to the time of the accident. To me Alonso had much more to lose than Lewis with that action.

#20 Andrew | 11 Apr 2011, 15:00 Reply »

It is insane the FIA decided to penalise Lewis for weaving, and yet nothing happened to Massa in Australia who was moving far more often against Button! If the penalty for what Lewis's did is a drive through (20s penalty), then Massa's should have been a DSQ!!!

Total rubbish from the FIA, it seems they only want to investigate incidents of weaving when someone crashes.

#21 MartyP | 12 Apr 2011, 11:59 Reply »

Hey Damian. I wasn't aware that Hamilton's car had been damaged, and since that's the case, you're right - a penalty is justified.

#22 MartyP | 12 Apr 2011, 12:10 Reply »

Hey Andrew. I totally agree the FIA need to apply any rule like this consistently. Harsh penalties are only fair if they're harsh for everyone.

However, I'm not so convinced that Massa did anything wrong in Australia. You're right that he was VERY aggressive defending against Button, but I don't remember him changing his line more than once or 'weaving' whilst defending position, and that was the problem with Lewis.

At least it'll give me a good excuse to watch my tape of the OzGP.

#23 MartyP | 12 Apr 2011, 12:23 Reply »

You make a great point Jon. We all want exciting racing but then get worked up when driver pushes the limits. I think a similar thing happened last year with the infamous Schumacher-Barrichello incident.

I'm a big fan of aggressive driving, and I don't think Lewis did anything especially wrong in this instance (it was borderline so I'd be fine with or without a penalty), but I don't like it when a defending driver 'weaves' because that takes away the attacking driver's fair chance to pass him. I'm happy for the defending driver to move across his line as aggressively as he wants, as late as he wants, but if he moves back onto another line it's no longer a fair battle in my point of view. I don't think Lewis was being unfair, but now the FIA have drawn a line in the sand so I hope they stick to it.

#24 Jon | 12 Apr 2011, 12:52 Reply »

look at the good old racing here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=en-GB&v=5MEG88C3Mp0

you can see weaving to the limit but still clean enough not to damage anyone's car.

#25 Jimmy@enterF1 | 12 Apr 2011, 13:04 Reply »

I have a different opinion on these issues every time a new angle or point of view is raised!

There's no doubt about it, the racing in that video is superb entertainment. Still makes me squint my eyes and hope they don't touch going through Bridge corner!

But one way of looking at it is, they need to put rules in place to try and stop cars clashing wheels are such high speed..... trying to keep cars and components out the grandstands is paramount!

That said.... I still believe weaving to break a tow before the car behind is within striking distance is still safe!

On a final note - the best bit of that video is at 1m04s when Tom Walkinshaw is laughing at Flav getting in a huff!!

#26 Damian J | 12 Apr 2011, 18:19 Reply »

I've watched the Hamilton Alonso battle several times and I am strugglinhg to see any weaving. The "incident" is complicated by the fact that both drivers pass through several corners which necessitates a change of direction with the track.

We saw Massa forcing Button wide in Australia which is fair enough. Equally, Hamilton defended his position fairly without unwarranted change of direction IMO.

Most interesting was that fact that none of the BBC commentators or after race BBC pundits spotted any weaving either at the time or after the race!

#27 Chris | 12 Apr 2011, 20:25 Reply »

He did damage his car... Alonso broke part of the floor and some other aero part, didnt you hear what DC and Brundle said? didnt you see how his lap times plummeted after the incident?

How was Hamilton weaving? he changed direction once when alonso made contact.

Why does Vettel get away with 3 changes ofdirection to BLOCK Lewis taking 1st in the 1st corner? Vettel is the reason hamilton was passed by Heidfeld in the first corner because vettel blocked him into the pack.

#28 Jimmy@enterF1 | 12 Apr 2011, 22:07 Reply »

Was the weaving on the pit straight the lap before guys? I don't think they said he weaved and caused Alonso to hit him. Separate incidents I believe.

#29 Jon | 13 Apr 2011, 07:37 Reply »

Hamilton was on Harder rubber + had many laps on them and the strategy was the reason of his sudden loss of pace not Alonso hitting his car. Just look at the previous 4 laps and you could see Alonso gaining 7/10's a lap on Lewis obviously not cause the Ferrari was faster but just cause Hamilton's tyres were done for. [I think my link further up shows the lap times]

The weaving was done in the straight from one side to the other which is exactly what the FIA doesn't want to see or we'd end up with another Schumi / Reubens concrete wall love affair episode. While I hate this rule I must admit that if it's there and everyone knows about it then Hamilton should have held back from repeating this mistake.

#30 Jimmy@enterF1 | 13 Apr 2011, 10:20 Reply »

Just to add to that Jon... you could almost say that the Schumacher incident wasn't weaving at all. He only moved once, what he did do though is put a car outside the confines of the race track (in an especially dangerous place).

But yeah I see your point, the FIA want to clamp down on all 'potential' dangerous driving...

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