Ferrari's Valencian Anger: SC Changes Needed?

TEAMS RUBBISH "MANIPULATED" RACE TALK

Rivals teams have rubbished suggestions from Fernando Alonso that the European Grand Prix result was 'manipulated' by the FIA - and believe the matter was down to simple bad luck.

Although Alonso and Ferrari are angry that delays in punishing Lewis Hamilton for overtaking the safety car meant he did not lose a position for the offence, other teams do not agree that there was anything wrong in the way the FIA acted.

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner thinks that although the events of Valencia have highlighted some areas where the safety car rules can be improved, he does not think anything nefarious went on.

"I don't think so," he said when asked about Alonso's 'manipulated' comments. "I think the safety car rules have not played out for Ferrari, and McLaren was perhaps a bit naughty with the way it worked it, but it got a penalty for that.

"Arguably it didn't cost them, but that's just the way it worked out. I don't think it was manipulated. The FIA just need to look at the safety car rules in the future."

Lotus technical chief Mike Gascoyne added: "I think since we started changing the safety car rules, every time you change something you get all these scenarios thrown up, and I think it is just that.

"Charlie [Whiting, FIA race director] is trying to do the job as he sees it, calls it as he sees it, and he has as difficult a job as everyone. I think it is just one of those things."

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said he did not understand why Alonso was so angry - because Hamilton was punished for his mistake after the FIA went through its normal processes.

"Look at the incident itself - it was very, very difficult to avoid what had happened and it was minuscule," said Whitmarsh.

"The matter always goes to the stewards. They made a decision. That is pretty normal in my experience of motor racing, but Fernando may have a different set of experiences."

Alonso, however, remains furious about what had happened - as he saw his chances of a podium finish wrecked by the safety car.

"I don't know what the penalty should be," he said about Hamilton's drive-through. "On the lap of the safety car I was one metre behind Hamilton.

"He finished second, I finished eighth. I respected the rules and he didn't. That is my opinion. It is the first time I have seen someone overtake a safety car."

SOURCE: Autosport

FERRARI SAYS COMPLAINTS ARE LEGITIMATE

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali insists his team is not complaining simply for the sake of it, despite its continued anger over what it feels was an injustice at the European Grand Prix.

The Maranello team is furious that title rival Lewis Hamilton effectively escaped unpunished, despite overtaking the safety car that had been called out following Mark Webber's crash.

With Fernando Alonso having claimed the FIA 'manipulated' the race by not giving Hamilton his drive-through soon enough, Domenicali claims that there are legitimate reasons as to why Ferrari is so upset.

"We need to be careful by avoiding to take a counter-constructive attitude and complaining just for the sake of it, because it's useless," said Domenicali.

"We need to be very calm at these times, but we can't pretend nothing has happened. However, I repeat, rationality must prevail over emotions, which are very strong."

Domenicali reiterated that the main problem was the delay in punishing Hamilton, which allowed him to build up enough of a cushion so he could take his drive-through penalty without losing any places.

"I think what needs to be done is evaluating the sanction by keeping in mind the time of the decision and the way the race is developing," he said. "These are important issues.

"Looking back during the post-race analysis, it's clear that you are advantaged by not following the rules because at the end of day you gained more points. This is not alright from the point of view of the principle of the sporting regulation, and we need to work on it.

"I think we need to believe in the principles: it worked this way today, let's hope it's different next time."

When asked whether he believed there was any bias towards Hamilton, Domenicali said: "I want to believe this is not the case."

Although Domenicali has moved to tone done some of Alonso's initial comments, Ferrari vice-president Piero Ferrari suggested that the European Grand Prix had been a 'false' event because of what happened.

"I am incredulous and bitter, not just for Ferrari, but for the sport as a whole, as this is not the sort of thing one expects from professionals," Ferrari said in a statement on his team's website.

"For a long time now, I have also followed races in championships in the United States, where the appearance of the safety car is a frequent occurrence, but I have never seen anything similar to what happened today at the Valencia circuit.

"If it raises some doubts over the actions that led to a false race, to me that would seem more than reasonable."

SOURCE: Autosport

FERRARI BOSS HITS OUT AT VALENCIA EVENTS

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo says the European Grand Prix set a dangerous precedent that could damage the credibility of Formula 1.

The Italian squad has been fuming since McLaren's Lewis Hamilton finished in second position in the Valencia race despite being given a drive-through penalty.

Ferrari believes the penalty came too late and as a result the Briton was able to keep his position despite breaking the rules by having overtaken the safety car early in the race.

Fernando Alonso, running right behind Hamilton when the safety car was deployed, stayed behind it and wound up finishing in ninth as a consequence.

Another nine drivers received five-second penalties after the race for having breaking the safety car delta time rules.

Di Montezemolo said on Monday that the situation was unacceptable and that it cast a shadow over the credibility of the sport.

"The result of yesterday's race was misrepresentative," di Montezemolo said on Ferrari's website. "Ferrari, which showed itself to be competitive in the European Grand Prix, paid a price that was too high for respecting the rules.

"Meanwhile those who didn't follow the rules were penalised by the race officials in a way that was less severe than the damage suffered by those who did respect them.

"That is a very serious and unacceptable event that creates dangerous precedents, throwing a shadow over the credibility of Formula 1.

"We are sure that the FIA will fully analyse what happened, taking the consequent necessary decisions. Ferrari will watch this with interest."

SOURCE: Autosport

Presumably, if it was during the race we'd have to guess the stewards may have given a drive-through penalty, which, under the sporting regulations, is a 20 second penalty if given after the race.

However, I believe it was a 5-second penalty because Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello, Robert Kubica and Adrian Sutil all claimed the sector time showed up about 100 metres before they entered the pit lane (giving them no time to react whatsoever), so they went lenient as a result of that.

It sucks for the ones who are affected negatively by something like this, but it happens in F1, sometimes you win sometimes you lose.

And like KA said, maybe for what Hamilton did they should have thought of penalty that would have actually effected him, like a stop and go. Cause even though he was penalised he really got away with one.

I wonder if the laptime delta that gets shown on their dash is the same for everyone or if it's scaled to fit the lap time that they're currently on, and again, there was the option of slowing to a near stop if that's what you've got to do. KimisApprentice

Apart from earlier in the week there was the new ruling with immediate effect anyone purposely driving slowly would be penalised. It's a lose/lose for the drivers.

My knowledge for the laptime delta is everyone gets the same sector time, no matter where they are on the circuit.

The one thing I will say is in Ferrari's favour is that from when Hamilton committed the offense to when it was announced he had the penalty took 29 minutes and 1 second. Even then, it's not as long as what Petrov had to wait for when it came to his penalty for crashing in to de la Rosa at the start of Canada.

HAMILTON: ALONSO "SOUR" OVER POOR RESULT

Lewis Hamilton has accused Fernando Alonso of sour grapes over the safety car controversy that has overshadowed the European Grand Prix.

Alonso and his Ferrari team have been left furious that Hamilton was able to effectively escape without punishment for overtaking the safety car, after it had been called out for Mark Weber's crash.

Alonso and Ferrari believe delays by the FIA in handing Hamilton the punishment allowed the Briton to build up enough of a cushion over his nearest car to take a drive-through penalty without losing a place.

AUTOSPORT understands, however, that the delays were caused simply by the FIA getting hold of timing data, aerial film footage and transponder location information to be 100 per cent sure that Hamilton had definitely passed the safety car before the line.

Furthermore, the decision to hold Alonso and Massa behind the safety car for half the lap that has upset them even more, was purely because the FIA wanted to protect the medical car - which had been rushing to Webber's aid following his accident.

Quoted by the Press Association on Tuesday, Hamilton was asked whether Alonso's moaning was a simple case of sour grapes.

"Yeah," said Hamilton. "I even saw him overtaken by a Sauber [Kamui Kobayashi] on the big screen. It's very unlike him to be overtaken by a Sauber so he must have been completely in another world. But I don't understand why I affected his race so much.

"Everyone has a right to their opinion, and he must be disappointed with his own result, but I didn't do anything to him."

With rival teams not backing Ferrari's angry stance, Hamilton has even defended the role of the stewards this year - who have shown themselves more willing to let drivers compete rather than rush in to punish them harshly for indiscretions.

"The FIA are doing an incredible job because they are allowing us to race this year," he said.

Hamilton's stance will do little to calm Ferrari down, whose president Luca di Montezemolo said on Monday that the situation was 'unacceptable'.

"The result of yesterday's race was misrepresentative," di Montezemolo said on Ferrari's website. "Ferrari, which showed itself to be competitive in the European Grand Prix, paid a price that was too high for respecting the rules.

"Meanwhile those who didn't follow the rules were penalised by the race officials in a way that was less severe than the damage suffered by those who did respect them.

"That is a very serious and unacceptable event that creates dangerous precedents, throwing a shadow over the credibility of Formula 1."

SOURCE: Autosport

ED: To read the link, you need to be subscribed to AUTOSPORT - and anyone who can should copy & paste it here... :wink:

ALONSO APOLOGISES FOR FIA CRITICISM

Fernando Alonso has apologised for over-reacting to the safety car controversy at last weekend's European Grand Prix - and said he never intended to fuel suspicions that the FIA had 'manipulated' the race.

The Spaniard was furious after the race in Valencia - suggesting that the FIA had favoured Lewis Hamilton by taking too long to hand him a punishment for overtaking the safety car early in the event.

Those delays meant Hamilton was able to take a drive-through penalty without losing position.

Two days on, Alonso has said he is much calmer about the situation - and clarified that his remarks were fuelled by frustration that he had lost positions by respecting the rules, while Hamilton had effectively benefited from breaking the regulations.

"Obviously, in the clear light of day, I am much calmer than I was in the moments immediately following the race," said Alonso in his diary column on the official Ferrari website.

"At the time, I reacted emotionally and in that situation, it is all too easy to adopt a tone and say things that can be interpreted wrongly, giving rise to suspicions, something which I had no intention of doing.

"Sure, I understand that the stewards have a difficult job to do and they have to take decisions that are not easy. What I meant was that those drivers who, like us, respected the regulations, unfortunately, in this situation, suffered much more than those who broke them, even though they were given a penalty.

"And I am not referring to any of the drivers in particular: it's a general matter and I think we should talk about it together in a calm way, to ensure that things like this do not happen again."

There had been speculation that the FIA could punish Alonso and his Ferrari team for some of their outspoken remarks after Spain, but the governing body gave no indication it intended to react. Alonso's apologetic comments will, however, help serve to draw a line under the matter.

The FIA is aware, however, that the events of Sunday have highlighted several potential problems with the current safety car regulations, and has called an extraordinary meeting of thinktank, the Sporting Working Group, to go through the issues next week ahead of the British Grand Prix.

Alonso welcomed that move and hoped that any matters up in the air after Valencia can be cleared up so there is no repeat controversy in the future.

"I was pleased to hear that the FIA has reacted promptly, calling an extraordinary meeting of the Sporting Working Group and I am confident, certain even, that all the points up for discussion will be cleared up in a comprehensive fashion."

Despite losing valuable points in Valencia through the bad timing of the safety car, Alonso remains upbeat about his title prospects.

"Even if the Valencia result was not what we wanted, it has not done irreparable damage," he said. "It's true that the gap to the leader has now jumped to 29 points, but we have not even reached the halfway point of the season. We trail by just over one win, so the situation is still very open.

"The updates we brought to Spain saw us make a step forward and get closer to the front runners. I am satisfied with that, but also aware that we must continue to push on with the development of the F10, because we need to have a car capable of fighting for pole and to give us the edge over our rivals as soon as possible.

"If we are now 29 points off the championship leader, it means that in the next ten races, we have to score at least 30 more than whoever is in the lead at any one time."

SOURCE: Autosport

MASSA URGES FIA TO ACT OVER SC RULES

Ferrari driver Felipe Massa has urged the FIA to act to revise Formula 1's rules in order to avoid a repeat of what happened at the European Grand Prix last Sunday.

The Italian squad has been angry since the Valencia race, where McLaren's Lewis Hamilton finished in second place despite having to serve a drive-through penalty, which Ferrari reckons came too late to affect him.

Fernando Alonso, running right behind Hamilton when the safety car came out, finished in ninth, having respected the safety car rules.

Massa said he was not interesting in joining the controversy, but he did call for changes to stop that from happening again.

"I don't particularly want to go over what happened after that, because it changes nothing in that our race was ruined," said Massa on Ferrari's website.

"However, what happened needs to be looked into because it is not normal than someone commits a serious infraction like overtaking the safety car, when there is a dangerous situation on track and is not really penalised in practical terms.

"We must talk about this together and do something to ensure a situation like this does not happen again. The team has told me that, next week there will be a meeting of the Sporting Working Group: that's good and it's an obvious indication that the FIA is paying close attention to the matter."

The Brazilian, who failed to score in Sunday's race, admitted he was very encouraged by the pace of his Ferrari following the introduction of a big upgrade package.

"Looking at the actual performance of the car over the weekend, I have to say the updates to the aero package and revised exhaust system resulted in the F10 making a good step forward, allowing us to fight for the front places," he added.

"Now it is important to keep pushing on the development front all the way to the end of the season."

SOURCE: Autosport

WHITMARSH: "NEW" FIA MAKING F1 BETTER

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh believes Formula 1 is benefiting from a less-confrontational stance from the FIA - with Fernando Alonso's recent outburst over events in Valencia showing how things are different under Jean Todt's presidency.

With the governing body appearing more willing to let drivers race rather than be punished for questionable incidents, and also to not get involved in public conflict as it could have done after Alonso's 'manipulated' comments, Whitmarsh thinks the sport is actually being made better.

"We are racing more naturally now," Whitmarsh said after the FOTA/Santander fans' forum in London on Thursday. "There always will be goals that were not goals, and those sorts of things - they happen in sport and you have to accept it.

"In fairness now, to Jean and the FIA, even from where I am sat, things happen in the race and you think that is going to cause so much aggravation - but it doesn't. And even drivers are thinking that now.

"There is a fine line: you want it to be safe, to be fair, and you want decisions to be instantaneous, but you want drivers to have a go. And when you have a go in racing cars, you are going to get incidents, you are going to get controversy and you are going to get two drivers who see an incident from completely different perspective.

"Alonso was fairly outspoken but actually people want a bit of that, and it doesn't worry me. In the past you have not been able to question. There has to be a limit, some fine lines, but not being able to question a referee's decisions, or umpire's decisions or stewards' decision? And frankly you have not been able to do that."

He added: "People complained about a sterility of conversations and debate within the paddock, but there was a regime where you were not even allowed to [question] have we got it right? As that would bring the sport into disrepute.

"Now I don't think it is reasonable for any of us to go on a blast and criticise the FIA over anything, there have to be some limits and we have to be respectful to the FIA, but I think it is acceptable for people to display their passion, enthusiasm and agreement in the sport. It is a healthy thing."

SOURCE: Autosport

HAMILTON CLEARS THE AIR WITH ALONSO

Lewis Hamilton heads to his home race at Silverstone this weekend on a wave of rapprochement - after calming an off-track feud with Fernando Alonso and looking forward to having father Anthony at a race for the first time this year.

The McLaren driver got dragged into a public war of words with Alonso after Valencia when he suggested that the Spaniard's anger at what happened behind the safety car was purely because his Ferrari rival was so upset at getting a poor result.

Keen to not let matters drag on, Hamilton has revealed that he has been in contact with the Spaniard since the event to sort the situation out.

"We are in touch," Hamilton told the Reuters news agency. "He has my number and I have his number. We messaged the other day, things are cool.

"I just messaged him to see how he was doing and he said everything's cool and he knows how the racing world works and this is a tough year."

Hamilton has also revealed that matters with his father are on a better path, with Anthony expected to attend the British Grand Prix - which will be first F1 event since the pair's management arrangement ended earlier this year.

"I think he's coming," Hamilton told The Daily Express. "I have invited him. I've invited all my family. Pretty much all my family is coming, actually. I think he's going on Saturday night. And then everyone's coming on Sunday."

Hamilton said that although things had not been totally easy since splitting with his father, he reckoned the situation had helped him become a better person.

"It really has, it really has. I've just grown. I'm still learning so many things and I'm pretty much managing myself now - taking the reins and controlling things.

"I feel quite proud that I've not just rushed into management, or rushed into things. I've told people to be patient, that I've not gone for meetings. And bit by bit I've focused on things, working in certain areas that I didn't necessarily understand or know about before, and bit by bit trying to learn more about it. Sometimes it takes longer but it is going well.

"I need to have the best person to look after me and not take advantage, and do things for the right reasons while making good money, and helping me build and grow in the right direction."

SOURCE: Autosport

McLAREN AGAINST KNEE-JERK SC CHANGES

McLaren has urged the FIA not to make any knee-jerk changes to the rules surrounding the introduction of the safety car following the controversy involving Lewis Hamilton during the recent European Grand Prix.

The former world champion was perceived to have gained an advantage by not being punished soon enough after passing the safety car as it exited the pitlane, following Mark Webber's accident.

The team's managing director Jonathan Neale said that while the Sporting Working Group was evaluating the incident, he thought it would be unwise to introduce immediate changes to the regulations without considering them fully.

"I think we should be wary of knee-jerking in the reactions," Neale said during this week's Vodafone McLaren Mercedes phone-in. "If history's taught us anything in rule-making in Formula 1, it's that lurching from one thing to another doesn't pay off. The rules are there.

"I would be wary of knee-jerking," he added. "There wasn't a lot wrong with last weekend [in Valencia] and I don't think we should be doing instant rule-making.

"But the Sporting Working Group are taking a look at what happened last weekend, with the FIA, and they'll have some kind of measures in response."

Neale said that he believed instances where the safety car was introduced to the race form part of the fabric of the sport and produced elements of unpredictability that are essential to the entertainment factor.

"I think that degree of unpredictability - although sometimes it causes us to smart depending on whether you just luck in or luck out - some of that factor I think is good for F1 and good for the sport," he said. "Whilst I don't think that F1 should ever become a lottery, I do think that weather and the unpredictability of what happens with the safety car and can you call your driver in at the last minute or...

"You can't predict accidents, you can't predict what's going to happen when the safety car comes out and you have to prepare yourself.

"I think that the teams with their strategists have to, as we do, look at various moments in the race and you have to then arm your driver with the knowledge that they may now be in the window and should they see a safety car board - because they will see it before we see it on the timing screen - then they dive into the pitlane."

SOURCE: Autosport

SAFETY CAR PROCEDURES REVAMPED

The FIA will introduce new safety car procedures from the British Grand Prix on Sunday in a bid to prevent a repeat of the controversy in Valencia a fortnight ago, AUTOSPORT has learned.

FIA race director Charlie Whiting met with the sporting directors of the teams at Silverstone on Wednesday to discuss clearing up the safety car regulations after the issues that were brought up at the European Grand Prix.

Several ideas were discussed - including closing the pitlane completely during safety car spells - but AUTOSPORT understands that agreement has been reached simply to slow the F1 cars down much more than before under the safety car.

Instead of operating to a 'delta' time of 120% of a regular F1 lap before the cars form up behind the safety car, as under the old regulations, drivers will instead be forced to slow down to the actual estimated speed of the safety car itself.

The idea of slowing cars this much will be to ensure there is no possibility of a driver overtaking the safety car - as Lewis Hamilton did on the run out of the first corner at Valencia.

Drivers are due to conduct experiments with the new delta time after free practice at Silverstone on Friday and Saturday, with the new delta time being used for the first time in the race on Sunday unless any unforeseen major problems after thrown up beforehand.

The slower delta time will prevent drivers getting a benefit by being ahead of the safety car on road.

The FIA has also reacted to the problems drivers had of breaking the delta time in Valencia, after only finding out about the safety car towards the end of the lap, by making it clear that they will be exempt from the new safety car speed limit for the final 200 metres of the lap.

Williams driver Rubens Barrichello, who was penalised in Valencia, said it was hard for drivers to react immediately to the lights telling them to slow down.

"You are coming flat out at maybe 285km/h and the lights on the steering wheel only appear.. I could only see by the time that I was entering the pitlane," he said. "You have the engineer talking to you.

"It's very hard to take it. I just think that the rule can go your way one day and another day it won't. They are there for the safety so we need to for the best reasonable way of safety."

SOURCE: Autosport

ALONSO WELCOMES SC CHANGES

Fernando Alonso has welcomed the move by the FIA to modify the safety car procedures for this weekend's British Grand Prix in the wake of the controversy in Valencia.

The Spaniard was left furious after the European GP that Lewis Hamilton had overtaken the safety car - and delays in punishing him meant the McLaren driver could serve a drive-through penalty without losing position.

Following the issues brought up in Valencia, the FIA has agreed with teams that cars will now have to slow to the pace of the safety car as soon as a caution period is called.

This should rule out any chance of a driver running at a speed that could result in them overtaking the safety car before they have to form up behind it.

Alonso said he welcomed the FIA's move - which he hoped would improve matters for the Silverstone weekend.

"I think any change they [the FIA] do is because they think it is better," said the Ferrari driver. "Every change is welcome if they improve F1, so let's hope everything goes well."

SOURCE: Autosport

MORE TWEAKS TO SAFETY CAR PROCEDURES

The FIA has made further tweaks to the safety car procedures for the British Grand Prix after tests of a new speed limit did not get the support of drivers.

In the wake of the controversy at the European Grand Prix caused when Lewis Hamilton overtook the safety car, the FIA agreed to introduce a new speed limit for the lap when cars join up behind the lead vehicle.

The initial plan was for the cars to tour around at the same speed as the safety car - to guarantee there was no chance of the drivers passing it while they formed up on track.

Tests of the new speed limit were tried out after practice sessions at Silverstone on Friday, but drivers were not happy with the target lap time - because it meant certain sections of the track were far too slow.

Rubens Barrichello reckoned there were safety implications for drivers slowing so quickly too.

"Yesterday I got to a point where I had to put it in first gear - having been flat out," he said. "In my opinion if somebody is not paying attention to the message then 'bang!' It is going to be a mega shunt."

AUTOSPORT understands that the FIA has agreed to increase the speed limit in the event of a safety car at Silverstone to approximately 80 per cent of a flat out lap time - which will include the final 200 metres of the circuit being left with no limit to ensure that drivers are not caught out should there be a late safety car call.

Furthermore, the FIA will also reserve the right to delay sending out the safety car itself on to track during a caution period, so there is no chance of it splitting up a leading gaggle of cars.

This should prevent a repeat of what happened in Valencia, when the immediate dispatch of the safety car meant it split race leader Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton - and cost the pursuing Ferraris valuable lap time.

The FIA will also ensure teams are aware of when the pit lane exit lights will be left green during a safety car phase - to try and avoid a repeat of what happened to Michael Schumacher when he was stuck behind a red light in the pits when he expected it to be green because of a gap to Kamui Kobayashi.

Robert Kubica reckoned the higher speed delta time that will be in place for the race, tried out after Saturday's final free practice session, was much better than the slower one evaluated on Friday.

"Yesterday we tested a very slow one, which was pretty difficult, but today we tested a usual one which was more similar - and I think reasonable," he said.

SOURCE: Autosport

FIA APPROVES SAFETY CAR ALTERATIONS

The FIA has confirmed a number of changes that will be made to the safety car procedures for the British Grand Prix to ensure drivers do not lose out unfairly during caution periods.

Following the issues that were brought up in Valencia, the FIA has spent the weekend evaluating new ideas to try and improve the situation from this weekend's event at Silverstone.

As well as the tweaks in the speed that cars will now lap when the safety car period starts, which AUTOSPORT revealed earlier this weekend, it has also changed the way they will deploy the lead vehicle.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the FIA said that the safety car would no longer join the track immediately during a caution period. Instead it will come out when the race director feels it will not unfairly penalise drivers.

"An assessment will...be made to determine when the safety car should join the track in order to try and ensure that no drivers will be unnecessarily disadvantaged," he said. "In all cases we will attempt to pick up the leader.

"However, if this proves unfeasible for any reason, cars between the safety car and the leader will be waved through immediately."

The FIA has also confirmed that it will tweak the way the pitlane exit lights are switched between red and green to ensure there is no repeat of what happened to Michael Schumacher, when he got stuck in the pits in Valencia despite there being a gap on track behind the safety car that he could have slotted into.

SOURCE: Autosport