Toto Wolff has compared Fernando Alonso’s Saudi Arabian penalty with Lewis Hamilton’s 2021 World title loss, emphasizing that in both cases, the FIA needed to arrive at the correct decision rather than rushing to one.
Lewis Hamilton’s title defeat in 2021 has been widely documented, with both Mercedes and Hamilton still feeling that he was “robbed” of his eighth World title by the controversial decision made by the then FIA race director Michael Masi, to set up a final lap shoot-out between the reigning World Champion and Max Verstappen.
Mercedes believed that Masi’s decision was wrong, and it resulted in his departure and an overhaul of the FIA’s race control system.
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According to Wolff, the errors persist, with the most recent being at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Mercedes team principal simply wants the stewards to make the correct calls, as was the case with Abu Dhabi.
In an interview with Channel 4, he remarked: “First of all, the penalty was super harsh because from the pure driving performance Fernando and Aston Martin deserved to be on the podium.
“We have to look at those regulations and see is there is anything we can tweak because it didn’t affect his race.
“I’d rather have the FIA come to the right decisions than be too quick and obviously fall into something that’s wrong.
“We’ve been victims of that in 2021 where everything was down to the entertainment for a quick decision and it robbed the greatest driver of the championships.
“So in that respect, I think I’d rather not go to the podium and have the correct result afterwards.”
F1 Officials urged to Rewrite Regulations After Alonso’s Podium Finish Controversy.
David Croft has called on Formula One officials to revise their current regulations. This plea comes in the wake of widespread confusion regarding Fernando Alonso’s podium finish in Saudi Arabia.
In response to this issue, F1’s Sporting Advisory Committee has scheduled a meeting on Thursday, which is expected to address the Jeddah incident as a major point of discussion.
In an effort to enforce stricter penalties for Formula One drivers, David Croft has proposed that the current regulations be simplified.
Specifically, Croft suggests that drivers should be immediately penalized the moment their mechanics touch their car while serving a penalty.
Speaking on Sky Sports F1’s Podcast, Croft emphasized the importance of this revision and expressed his hope that the rules will be rewritten accordingly during the meeting on Thursday.
“I do hope that on Thursday of this week, the rules are re-written that say you can’t touch the car,” Croft remarked.
“Some teams may think that’s not a very good idea but it is a much clearer way, don’t touch the car. So just rewrite it so no one touches the car, everyone’s in the same boat.
“They can hover millimetres away and then get to work on it. Put some sensors on the car, that’s logical isn’t it but that’s weight and the teams don’t want extra weight.”
Fernando Alonso faced a 10-second penalty during the race in Saudi Arabia when Aston Martin’s rear jack touched his car while serving a previous grid infringement penalty.
This resulted in George Russell from Mercedes inheriting the podium, which he graciously accepted while conducting post-race interviews in the media pen.
However, a surprising turn of events occurred when Alonso was reinstated in third place after Aston Martin successfully appealed the penalty.
Following an investigation, the FIA acknowledged that there was “no clear agreement” on whether touching a car during a penalty constituted as working on the vehicle.
In response to this controversy, the FIA has announced that the issue will be discussed in the next meeting, and clarification is set to be issued ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.
Despite his call for regulatory changes in Formula One (F1), David Croft has expressed concern that team managers may resist these revisions due to potential loopholes that could arise.
He added: “I put this to a couple of leading team members at a Formula One team.
“I said ‘right, Thursday, sporting advisory council, you’re all going to get together and the rules are going to be re-written. ‘Oh I wouldn’t say that Crofty. It’s very technical, it’s very complicated. No it’s not just make sure you can’t touch the car.’
“‘Oh we can’t have that. What about the front jacks? If the driver comes in and he brakes a bit too late, doesn’t stop on his marks and hits the front jack we are going to get a penalty.
” The front jack doesn’t need to be there, it’s not a fast pit stop you’ve got five seconds. The teams will find reasons why it’s not very simple.”
Crofty gets that he’s proposing ‘simple to follow’ rules to a group that cannot agree when ‘any’ means the same as ‘all’, right?
The regulations may be that loose but is not the problem. The evil people with in are the issue. They will keep sneaking for faults till they are smoked out