f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

I am far from Alonso's biggest fan, but in this case the system deployed in the wrong place and didn't employ in the right place. He didn't pass anyone becuase of it so I really do see little need to apply a penalty. They just need to fix the system so it works as it is supposed to.

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

The penalty that Alonso got for hitting Lewis was stupid and absolutely pointless. Many people agree with this.

A) Alonso did not damage Hamiltons car
B) Alnoso had to pit for a new nose cone and wing
C) Even with the time penalty issued, Alonso didn't drop a position or lose points.

I cannot see what this has to do with the DRS being activated for a split second outside the official DRS zone?

Ferrari and the FIA have stated that the DRS became active at only 300m before the end of the straight rather than at 750m, as it should have been.
It was then active after the corner for the distance remaining (450m). DRS is disabled though as soon as the driver hits the brake pedal, so in this instance, Alonso was actually disadvantaged as some the active DRS time was spent braking.

Whether Alonso has a light on the dash that comes on when the system is active, or if it automatically activates in the DRS zone is not known yet and the FIA tecnical engineers are still investigating what caused the malfunction.

I really wouldn't want the FIA to start dishing out penatlies when their own system fails.
What about about the fact that for most of the race in Malaysia, Alonso's DRS was not active. Should the FIA move him up a couple of places?

Miniman

iTrader: (2)

Kinda missing the point. Does it matter if its a technical infringement or not? That is the issue, regardless of whether someone gains from a situation or not. Saying well it made Alonso's car slower shouldn't matter. A lot of people have said "by the rules" penalties should always be applied and some haven't - including the FIA themselves by actually dishing out the penalties. I'm not about to justify which is right, but just pointing out the inconsistencies. Just saying "well he didn't gain" is ignoring the fact a technical infringement occured.

speedking

I thought that was one of the reasons cited for getting rid of fuel pit stops, i.e. that you couldn't tell who was really leading the race as it depended on the fuel on board at the start, how much was put in at each stop, whether the car planned to stop again, etc. and was not related to track position until the end. Now we seem to be re-introducing similar uncertainties by the tyre design Talk about boom and bust.

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

I don't think I am.
What do you actually believe? As all you are doing is offering both sides of the argument and defending neither.

Some infringements should be punished with a timed penalty, such as Saubers rear wing measurments not being within the rule book in Australia. That is a punishment for not adhering to very clear dimensions.

As for Alonso, have you seen the video? Alonso's wing was up for less than a second and that was in the slow motion! I do not believe this was Alonso or Ferrari trying to 'cheat'. The wing opened and closed in what must have been a tenth of a second.

The DRS system is new and as the FIA are in charge of it so they need to fully understand it and iron out any bugs. What to you think would happen if the FIA handed out a drive though penalty to Alonso, only to discover later on that the wing malfunction was no fault of the driver or team.

You can't just hand out penalties here, there and everywhere until the suspected infringement is fully investigated. I believe in 2007/2008, the penalties were getting stupid and discouraged proper racing. In 2009 and 2010, things were much better, then Alonso gets the penalty in KL. Hamiltons was deserved though as that was clearly changing defensive position more than once.

Miniman

iTrader: (2)

What I believe is irrelevant as the FIA have shown a want to punish both pure technical infringements that do not adhere to the rules and a willingness to let things go. It's shouldn't be for us or Ferrari to say - but we didn't gain therefore there is no need to penalise us - FIA should be more consistent. This is the core issue regardless of whether we talk about DRS, broken wings or some other such rule breaking. The FIA improved on this in 2010, but it appears we've moved back to the old days.

But as you ask, I do think non gaining infringements should have another type of penalty (possibly a fine). Added time, drive throughs etc, should be reserved for rule breaking that does or is seen to present a gain. Otherwise we go back to 2007/2008 where races were decided after the chequered flag which no one wants.

However I still fail to see how the FIA can cause a DRS to activate - it's not in their remit, they only advise the teams when the car in the correct zone to be able to deploy it.

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

I do agree with what you say 100%.
I just can't understand, if Alonso could activate outside the DRS zone, why he would do so on such a short straight, and only immediately before he applies the brakes.