Hamilton penalized in Belgium

After being the first driver to make it to the checkered flag at the Belgian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was penalized with a 25-second time penalty for cutting the Bus Stop Chicane and gaining an advantage the allowed him to overtake Raikkonen on the first corner. I believe that Hamilton should definitely be penalized, because although he lifted a little bit for Raikkonen to go by, just as Raikkonen went by he already dove to the inside at full throttle trying to get by the Finn. Overall, the time that he lifted did not compensate for the time he gained by cutting the corner. Therefore this is the right decision by the stewards. Since it was on the final laps of the race, it was not possible to penalize Hamilton with a drive-through.

Felipe Massa is the lucky winner, and Nick Heidfeld gets second position. Hamilton becomes third and his championship is cut to 2 points.

More details will sure be given on the Official Formula One website. I am sure McLaren will protest the decision.

--Andre N.

This is originally from my blog: Formula One Monday. Feel free to edit it here, especially if you find typos!

ThecrookedcapAll-Star

429 days ago

Score 1

This was a terrible decision. Hamilton was forced to cut the Bus Stop by Kimi, and did let him by in a clever move. Had the situation had been reversed, I don't think the penalty would have been called. The FIA is so pro-Ferrari it's ridiculous.

The sad thing is that this was the best race of the season and will now be remember for this penalty instead.

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

429 days ago

Score 0

Not pro-Ferrari, pro-tightening the championship. It's happened before (Villeneuve in 97, Alonso in 05, Hawthorn in 58), and it'll happen again, sadly.

Importantly, it couldn't have been a penalty, because Hamilton gained "no advantage." He was no closer to Raikkonen at La Source than he was at the Bus Stop (they were alongside each other at both). Hamilton gave the position back. Furthermore, Raikkonen ended up in the wall, so what difference did it make?!

You're right though, it's a race that's been decided in the steward's room, not the track. The best F1 race of the season has been ruined. I'll bet Massa privately reckons Hamilton's been hard done-by too, but he won't say otherwise in public.

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

429 days ago

Score 0

Also, I just saw that lap on Speed, and I love the commentators "You can't take wets, it's over if you take wets!" Heidfeld pitted for tyres, and jumped from 9th to 3rd on the last lap. Shows what they know! :-P

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ThecrookedcapAll-Star

429 days ago

Score 2

If either Toro Rosso had put on inters they might have won.

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AndrenWaterboy

429 days ago

Score 0

In Spa the lap is so long that you have to think about every lap as 2 laps on other tracks! It would not make sense to go for wets with 1 lap remaining in any track other than Spa.

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Anonymous Fanatic #1

429 days ago

Score -1

hmmm well i dont think it was fair ham was at the side of him into teh corner so ther was less than 1 second between them so if ham let him bk into the lead he gave him more position than wot he had in the corner

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

429 days ago

Score 1

I reckon that Hamilton would have made the corner if Raikkonen had given him the room. Hamilton had two choices - cut the corner, or drive into Raikkonen.

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Anonymous Fanatic #2

429 days ago

Score -1

Have to love the FIA's anti Hamilton/Kovalainen crap. It's getting really annoying. Last year Hamilton and Alonso both received countless penalties for absolutely nothing.

Spygate? WTF was that to do with F1 really? Everyone secretly carries data.

Anti Mclaren brigade aka FIA are definately siding with Ferrari. It's really annoying watching a sport where deserved talent is never being rewarded.

Not saying Massa is a bad driver but Hamilton is a superb driver in the wet and didn't get his reward, I'm actually more of Kimi fan it was saddening to see him going out but I also hate when the FIA come between everything. Unfortunately last season would have been Mclarens too if the FIA didn't push things in our Favour.

Over the last two years I've started to hate Ferrari even though they have been my team of choice since I was 5. This is just getting too much when the FIA have to give us victories. I'd rather we win fair and not with these lame excuses for wins.

Fact is Hamilton was the better driver on the day and I hate to see someone get screwed.

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

429 days ago

Score 0

I must admit that "spygate" was silly. It's been happening in motor racing in Europe since the concept of racing cars was founded.

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AndrenWaterboy

429 days ago

Score 0

So far all the comments are in Hamilton's favour. Am I the only one here who thinks he got an advantage by cutting the chicane? I think that was Raikkonen's turn - he was a little bit in front on the inside of the turn. You have to remember that he was being overtaken, and not overtaking. That makes a difference, because in close calls like that the stewards usually consider that the incident was started by the driver trying to overtake. All in all, Kimi was not the one forcing an overtaking manoeuvre. Remember that Lewis was on the outside, slightly behind and forcing the move.

Although Lewis let Kimi by, he took an advantage of the situation by imediatelly making a move to the inside as the Ferrari driver was completing the move to regain his position.

If there is a problem with Lewis Hamilton, the problem is that he is too aggressive. That was not smart. He did not need to make the move there. He would eventually overtake Kimi - he was much faster! - and win the race. He will not be a champion until he learns how to control his aggressiveness. I have seen that many times before, from many drivers. The good thing for Lewis is that one of those guys was Ayrton Senna.

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ThecrookedcapAll-Star

429 days ago

Score 0

If he was that aggressive though, would he have just punted himself and Raikkonen in the Bus Stop like he could have?

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

429 days ago

Score 0

This is what McLaren have said:

""We looked at all our data and also made it available to the FIA stewards. It showed that, having lifted, Lewis was 6km/h slower than Kimi as they crossed the start-finish line. Having passed the lead back to Kimi, Lewis repositioned his car, moving across and behind Kimi to the right-hand line and then out-braked him into the hairpin. Based on this data, we have no option other than to register our intention to appeal."

If Hamilton was travelling 6km/h slower than Raikkonen and still behind him, then it shows that Hamilton had no advantage. He was behind, and travelling slower. Hamilton passed at La Source because of a different overtaking attempt, i.e. outbreaking Raikkonen. With the data that was collected, it proves Hamilton had no advantage from cutting the chicane, and therefore, no penalty should be given.

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AndrenWaterboy

428 days ago

Score 0

Thecrookedcap, Hamilton is too aggressive and sometimes does not make the smartest decision, but that does not mean that he is completely stupid. He would never crash into Raikkonen and let Massa win the race! I like the comparison to Senna, although Hamilton has a long way until reaching that level. Senna made some stupid race decisions himself in his early career. As he was a smart guy, he later stopped getting involved into any situation that could mean trouble to him. The fact that Hamilton is protecting his championship lead by not bumping into Raikkonen shows that he has learned something.

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AndrenWaterboy

429 days ago

Score 0

Oh, and just another thing. We will never know what was the agreement made on the driver's meeting before the race. If any driver does anything that was specified as a 'not-to-do', that's an automatic penalty. This is how it works for auto racing anywhere in the world. Even in non-FIA events. One week ago Helio Castroneves was penalized in the IRL for blocking just as the drivers agreed not to do during the driver's meeting.

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

429 days ago

Score 0

I don't believe they would discuss the cutting of chicanes at circuits. The FIA have been insistent on tracks having tarmac run-off areas because they were found to be better than gravel traps. So, now Hamilton gets penalised for using it instead of crashing into another driver?

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Anonymous Fanatic #3

428 days ago

Score 1

Hamilton took advantge, so the penalisation was correct, if that would have happened any where else, Hamilton would have been left 4 or 5 seconds behind but this was not the case and Hamilton speeded up mostly knowing he had this escape. and that is a fact

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AndrenWaterboy

428 days ago

Score 0

The problem was not that Hamilton cut the corner. The problem is that he gave up the position and immediately attacked Raikkonen. If it were soccer/football, it would be just as if Team A kicked the ball out of bounds so that an injured player in Team B could get medical attention, and at the restart team B returned the ball to A as a sign of fair play - deep into team A's defensive zone, of course. Then team B immediately steals the ball from team A and scores a goal. Hamilton acted like that hypothetical team B.

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AndrenWaterboy

428 days ago

Score 0

Correction: The problem was not ONLY that Hamilton cut the corner. Of course it was a problem because it started the whole situation.

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