Ferrari break the rules again
Thursday 4 October 2007 | Written by Richard Brunton | Motorsport | Comments (1)
Once again Ferrai blatantly flaunted the rules of F1 to give themselves an advantage at the Japanese Grand Prix and the FIA allowed it to happen.
At the start of the rain drenched Japanese GP Charlie Whiting, the race director, issued a statement to all that each team should start on the extra wet tyres otherwise they would receive the black flag.
This statement was given to the teams and the media, and indeed we heard it on the commentary before the race.
Then the race starts and the Ferrari's are struggling with grip and sliding about, and the commentators notice that they are on the wet tyres, previously called the intermediates, and not the extreme wet tyres.
So both cars head into the pits a few laps later, presumably called in to change their tyres by the stewards, and off they go in extreme wets.
Yet there was no black flag, no stop-go penalty, not even an announcement. The viewers at home and every other team heard the announcement about the extreme tyres before the race.
Ferrari claim they didn't hear the announcement. That's the team with the closest connection to the FIA and one of the top teams in F1.
It sounds more like they saw the opportunity for a competitive advantage and it failed. However what is more disturbing, yet again, the FIA did nothing and let both drivers collect points for their wins.
If these had been any other cars, or even worse a McLaren, they would have been off the track instantly.
Another sign of the unequal terms under which the sport is run.
Comments
06-10-2007
08:33
I was listening to the race on 5Live (almost by chance; but that is another story!). The commentators were completely bemused by Ferrari's behaviour.