Are Fernando Alonso and Ferrari justified in complaining about the way officialdom handled issues around the Safety Car at the European Grand Prix? I can just hear the Lewis Hamilton camp labelling the Ferrari driver a whingeing Spaniard…
But let’s look at the issues. Hamilton made an honest mistake, hesitating as the Safety Car came out, then overtaking it, a move that freed him of the attentions of Alonso, who had been pressuring him up to that moment. Then the stewards took so long to decide on the issue that Hamilton was so far up the road ahead of the non-stopping Kobayashi that the drive-through penalty made virtually no difference at all.
The same applies to the nine cars that were docked 5 seconds after the event for not sticking to the so-called “delta time” behind the Safety Car: the advantage they gained was arguably way more than the rap on the knuckles they got after the event.
Fact is, small advantages gained early in the race can be hugely magnified if time is allowed to pass before penalties are imposed. In this instance, Alonso is quite right in saying that, as he was disadvantaged by having to drop to ninth, then Lewis should have dropped to eighth. And the penalty imposed should have resulted in a similar disadvantage.
There was also the case of Michael Schumacher who, approaching the green light at the end of the pit lane, suddenly had it go red on him. And of course, the final lap incident involving Schumi and Alonso at Monaco. It’s clear that there has to be a huge re-think about the Safety Car and the rules around it.
Ironically, everyone is baying about the need for electronic aids to refereeing football after a number of wrong calls at the Fifa World Cup in South Africa. But what the Valencia incidents illustrate is that no amount of video evidence can make up for dilly-dallying over the implementation of sanctions.
There’s no doubt about it: Alonso and Ferrari were robbed…
