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Formula 1 race director Michael Masi believes the sport would be entering "dangerous territory" if it relaxed penalties handed out for technical infringements.
Daniel Ricciardo was left disgruntled in Singapore after he was excluded from qualifying when it was found that his MGU-K had experienced a momentary spike in power output.
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The lap in which the spike occurred was not an improved lap time from Ricciardo, who argued that it would have made more sense to delete the lap time rather than the entire session - like the procedure that is carried out with track limits.
However, Masi maintains that technical violations are a more serious matter and need to be treated differently to the track limits philosophy.
"When it comes to technical infringements, Martin Brundle put it best when I bumped into him down on the grid," Masi said.
"He said 'you're either pregnant or you're not'. It's one of those things that when it comes to technical infringements, everyone knows what the outcome is, you either are or you aren't."
Masi admits that he has sympathy for Ricciardo, but denied that there was room to offer a more lenient penalty in a time when fans are calling for better racing and more competitive cars higher up the field.
"From the sporting element, that's one part," Masi commented. "But a technical infringement is a technical infringement. I can feel for Daniel but it was an error and sadly it is what it is.
“Personally, I think we’re treading on dangerous territory when we’re starting to, with technical infringements in particular, build in margins in upon margins upon margins."
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Replies (4)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
At the very least it's about the principle. We now know Renault didn't, intentionally or not, set it to an incorrect output. redundant or not, they were ready to brake the rule, but oversight or purpose. If it's done unintentionally, they didn't check carefully enough, if done intetntionally they were pushing the boundries of how much was ok before getting caught. I didn't like that Ric was sent all the way back, but I do approve that Renault was punished for this.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
*We now know Renault did...
*by oversight or...
Spelling game ain't my forte after evening shifts -.-
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
I agree. I was thinking that a financial penalty would be better when no performance was gained. Because ultimately the enforcement of the rule damaged the spectacle instead of enabling it. Rules shouldn't do that. I think a financial penalty ensures that (1) rules were enforced, (2) the guilty were punished, and (3) the show isn't harmed by the enforcement.
f1ski
Posts: 726
Cheaters and losers the two types of racers
It would not shock me if the violation was intentional to see if they could detect the breech