Ferrari were handed a 10,000 Euro fine, but is that enough?
The European Grand Prix wasn’t the most thrilling race ever, but the final result was surrounded by controversy. Felipe Massa cruised to victory and was joined on the podium by his championship rival Lewis Hamilton, and Robert Kubica, who is now pressurising Kimi Raikkonen for third in the world championship.
But Massa’s win was in question after Ferrari released the Brazilian from his second pit-stop in the path of Adrian Sutil. The pair avoided any collision, and in a statement the stewards announced that they would delay their investigation until after the race. It has since been decided to hand Ferrari a 10,000 Euro fine for their mistake, meaning the Ferrari driver, who is now second in the standings after today’s race, will retain his win.
In my opinion, Ferrari should be penalised with a 10-second time penalty or a ten-place grid drop at the Belgium Grand Prix. Mark Brundell, in his post-race analysis on ITV, disagrees, as he thinks Ferrari shouldn’t receive a penalty as no accidents were caused. But, surely creating a risk like Ferrari did, is enough to warrant a tough penalty?
2 responses so far ↓
TONY // August 24, 2008 at 10:09 pm |
Sorry pal but then they will have to go back and fine or penalise everybody else who did it in the past. Hamilton had the choice as to who he would ram up the but. That and the circumstances were serious. Would you then suggest they ban him for 6 races?
Adam Leveridge // August 25, 2008 at 10:28 am |
I don’t think banning a driver from racing is the answer at all, especially for six races, but when Hamilton crashed into the back of Raikkonen in Montreal he was penalised with a 10-place grid drop for the French Grand Prix in Magny Cours. Yes the incident involving Hamilton was more serious because there was a collision, but I think that creating a risk like Ferrari did in Valencia is enough to warrant a similar penalty. 10,000 Euros is a very small drop in the ocean for a team like Ferrari, so it doesn’t feel like an adequate punishment to me.