F1: I fucking knew it! I knew it!

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Hamilton stripped of a convenient amount of points just before the season swings to the Far East

This was on in the pub earlier. One of the most exciting, and brilliant, endings to any formula one grand prix in years, as the rain came down and all the leaders suddenly started sliding off the track and into each other.

As Hamilton won, though, to cheers from those around me, I shrugged and announced, "they'll take it off him".

"Why?", people cried. "He couldn't avoid going off the track at that point, he was trying to hold the racing line, it was slippery, he didn't gain any advantage ..."

" Because it's formula one", I replied. "This is the most corrupt "sport" in the world. The WWE would baulk at some of the crap that happens in this sport. Anyone interested in it is being ripped off, completely. Someone, somewhere, has already decided who's going to be this year's champion, and how he's going to do it."

And you know what ...

[evilC]

F1: I fucking knew it! I knew it!

I agree.

I stand by what I said at the end of last year's season: F.I.A. stands for 'Ferrari Is All'. Also that Hamilton will never win a world championship - he'll simply never be allowed to. However, the last straw for me was when it transpired that the 'designers receiving their opponents' plans' scandal was actually a two-way thing - that at the same time McLaren's designer received Ferrari designs, a Ferrari designer received McLaren plans. It was a mutual agreement. McLaren got fined £50million while Ferrari weren't penalised at all, for doing exactly the same thing, and their involvement was effectively hushed up.

Rogin is right - Formula 1 is now almost 100% corrupt. Expect to see Hamilton come to the same conclusion, tear up his contract and defect to the American scene (or GT racing) within three years.

(Update: I've just this second heard on the news that McLaren will appeal. Cue another fine of £Xmillion. If they can penalise Hamilton arbitrary amounts of time, they can fine McLaren arbitrary amounts of money.)

Ultimately, I'm not too bothered. F1 died for me when Schumacher was almost completely let off the hook for deliberately driving into opponents (to secure the title) for two seasons in a row, with complete disregard for their wellbeing. That was when it became obvious that Ferrari were above the law. Net result: I get two hours of my life back every other weekend that I would have wasted in the 70s and early 80s.

[ursus arctos]

F1: I fucking knew it! I knew it!

Hee hee.

It isn't before the Far East, it's before Monza.

BTW, how did this Ferrari is All theory for the twenty years when they were crap?

[RobW]

F1: I fucking knew it! I knew it!

It was obvious to me as soon as Hamilton cut the chicane that the FIA would stick their oar in.
I'll have to see it again, but was there anywhere else Hamilton could go without taking himself and Kimmi out?
Do the FIA not take into account that Raikkonen crashed out anyway, or that Hamilton momentarily let Kimmi retake the lead before the hairpin? I very much doubt it, the fucks.

[ursus arctos]

F1: I fucking knew it! I knew it!

Y'know, if Hamilton had been able to defend his pole, none of this would be an issue.

[Gangster Octopus]

F1: I fucking knew it! I knew it!

What happened to the stewards' at Valencia when Massa drove into Sutil in the pits? Oh, nothing. Funny that...

[Harbinger of Hope]

F1: I fucking knew it! I knew it!

BTW, how did this Ferrari is All theory for the twenty years when they were crap?

When Ferrari were crap, there was no amount of doctoring by the FIA that could change that. It's only when they have a half-decent shout, that plans could swing into action to promote the Ferrari cause.

[Harbinger of Hope]

F1: I fucking knew it! I knew it!

Schumacher had bent the rules past breaking point for years. I always remember the time when Schuey took his 10 second pitstop penalty after the race had finished and got away with it. Its that sort of nefarious skullduggery by Ferrari, and the weakness of the FIA against Ferrari that pisses people off.

[loppy]

F1: I fucking knew it! I knew it!

Calm down, theres the appeal yet. Off Course with the state of the fucking FIA (Ferrari incompetent arse-lickers) they'll probably stick another 5 seconds on the penalty for daring to question the supreme commanders of sport, and probably for interupting the nice meal (obviously pasta) they were having. Oh but that would put hamilton in middle of that battle for fourth and that would be unfair on the Ferrari powered Bourdais, so have another 5 seconds, 7th? yeah that'll do nicely but you still get two points so have a 10 place grid penalty for Monza too. Why dont they just rip up the track and get Scaletrix slots in. If its gonna b fixed might as well stop trying to hide it.

[loppy]

F1: I fucking knew it! I knew it!

and yes i kno bourdais drives for Torro Rosso but his engine is (allegedly) exactly the same as in the red cars

[ursus arctos]

F1: I fucking knew it! I knew it!

Bourdais has last season's Ferrari engine.

What I especially enjoy about these comic book conspiracy theories (and loopy, the pasta-eating is a very nice touch) is that all of the conspirators (Bernie, Max, Charlie Whiting, the chief steward at Spa) are English.

It's worth noting that the stewards were punctilious all weekend. Bruno Senna got hit with a drive through in the GP2 race on Saturday, Pantano got banned from the second race for causing an accident in the same race, Kovalinen was given a drive through during yesterday's race and Glock was penalised along with Hamilton afterwards.

The Hamilton decision (which was of course on Whiting's own motion, not a Ferrari protest) is very much in line with those other rulings, but of course you won't read much about that in the British media, because "Our Lewis" wasn't victimised.

It does make Monza even more interesting than it would have been otherwise.

[loppy]

F1: I fucking knew it! I knew it!

I've calmed down a bit from last night but am still disgusted by this decision. My arguement is the inconsistency. In Valencia, the stewards had already handed out drive thru penalties for unsafe pit stop release, however when Massa's release was a matter of inches off Sutil a post race fine will do keep your points.
I have always tried to watch F1 away from the British press and to watch it objectivly and hope to see a good race every time, which yesterdays was and was genuinly gutted when Kimi crashed. It's jus like in all sports, the referee should referee fair and only impact when needed, for example, kovelinien on webber reminded me of watchin a kid on a kart track for a birthday treat. I was all for hamiltons punishement of a ten place grid drop for the Canada pit lane disaster and in France, when he used the chicane to clear vettle he didn't really let him back thru so deserved that punishment too.

The (Maclaran i kno) telemetry and evidence shows as they crosses the start-finish line shows Hamilton was 6kph slower than Raikkonen and the tv evidence shows he was behind. What was he supposed to do? Stop and shout can I go now to race control? If Kimi had covered the inside he wouldn't have got thru anyway!

[RobW]

F1: I fucking knew it! I knew it!

Is the penalty 25 seconds because that would be the total time penalty of a stop/go penalty, what with the pit speed limit?

[ursus arctos]

F1: I fucking knew it! I knew it!

That's the rationale.

If it had been assessed during the race, it would have been a drive-through, but since there was no time to reach a decision before the finish, the stewards estimated the loss of time had a drive-through been imposed at 25 seconds.

It is obviously a far from exact science, and loppy (welcome, by the way) has every reason to wish for a more consistency (and more transparency) when it comes to the application of the rules.

[hobbes]

F1: I fucking knew it! I knew it!

The Hamilton decision (which was of course on Whiting's own motion, not a Ferrari protest)

Actually, it wasn't. Charlie Whiting gave the opinion that all was fair and above board, but it was the stewards at the track who made the decision. Whiting has no say.
It was a ludicrous decision, anyone could see that. I don't buy the Ferrari conspiracy. I mean, it's obvious that decisions go their way in a Man Utd kind of way. The whole sport has geared itself towards favouring the teams that inject most cash into the sport. Ferrari for some inexplicable reason are popular all over the world and with the addition of the cheating German, they've become untouchable. But I doubt it a conspiratorial thing, any more than Man Utd getting a little bit of extra time on games or not giving away pens at home.

[ursus arctos]

F1: I fucking knew it! I knew it!

Apologies, I got that bit from the Gazzetta, which is at least as biased as any English source.

I disagree about the decision being "ludicrous" in the context of the other calls the same set of stewards made over the course of the weekend but very much do agree that Ferrari's relative financial clout is bad for the sport as a whole. I see definite parallels with the current position of India in international cricket.

[hobbes]

F1: I fucking knew it! I knew it!

Smart enough. I actually got that from an interview with Ron Dennis after the race. He said he'd spoken to Whiting and he was of the opinion that there was no case to answer. Dennis was at pains to make clear that it was only Whiting's opinion though and had no bearing on the actual decision.
I think the fact that Ferrari didn't complain is indicative of the ridiculousness of the decision. Usually they'd have their hand up grassing to teacher at the first sign of a misdemeanour.

[ursus arctos]

F1: I fucking knew it! I knew it!

There was no upside in doing so, the sanction-happy stewards got the inquiry flag up before the national anthems, and Ferrari gets to say "It weren't us, guv."