Richard (ex-MB_insider)
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Renault suspended from European GP at ValenciaFrom Autosport:
| Quote: | Renault has been suspended from the European Grand Prix for the events that led to a wheel coming off Fernando Alonso's car in Hungary today.
Following a post-race discussion with the stewards, it was deemed that the team had breached the regulations enough for it to be suspended from the next event.
It means Alonso will miss his home event that takes place in Valencia next month, unless he moves to another team.
Alonso had been leading the race up until his stop, but his efforts came to nothing after his right front wheel was not fitted properly. It worked its way loose and flew off the car later that lap, ending up against the crash barriers.
A statement issued by the stewards on Sunday night said that there had been multiple breaches of the regulations by the Renault team.
Stewards talked to Renault representatives twice after the race.
The statement said that Renault "knowingly released car no. 7 from the pitstop position without one of the retaining devices for the wheel-nuts being securely in position, this being an indication that the wheel itself may not have been properly secured."
It added that Renault, "being aware of this, failed to take any action to prevent the car from leaving the pitlane....failed to inform the driver of this problem or to advise him to take appropriate action given the circumstances, even though the driver contacted the team by radio believing he had a puncture."
It said that the team's actions had compromised safety in breach of Article 3.2 of the Sporting Regulations, and in breach of Article 23.1.i had released the car from the pits before it was safe to do so.
Renault has been reminded of its right to appeal the decision. |
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Matt
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Good. With recent events, it is very careless to allow the car out without making sure the wheels were on properly.
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Chris M Wants a V-10
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I think it totally wrong to suspend a car for this, let alone the whole team. The driver had no say in the incident, so why should he be penalised? Fine the team, tie the pit crew to stocks and thrash them with branches (as per Basil Fawlty and the 1100), but don't deny the fans the racing spectacle.
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Matt
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Whilst it is obviously not Alonso's fault, it's the harsh shock a team needs to not allow something that caused a young death the previous weekend to happen again.
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Gooner
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I do wonder if they'd have gotten this punishment if it had happened in the previous race, but if it is true that they knew the wheel wasn't on properly and decided to let Fernando work that out for himself, they need boiling. But I do feel sorry for Fernando to miss his home race. Maybe he'll be allowed to keep Massas seat warm for him.
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Nice Guy Eddie
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| Gooner wrote: | | Maybe he'll be allowed to keep Massas seat warm for him. |
Yes, it could be an idea for Alonso to replace Massa for the rest of the season and to make the much speculated swith to Ferrari in 2010 early. The shame for Renault would be that they would end up having to keep Piquet and then putting Grosjean in Alonsos seat.
I do think this is a very painful penalty for the team and for the Spanish fans who have probably gone and spent huge amounts of their hard earned on tickets and not be able to see Alonso race. Another example of F1 cutting off its nose?
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Twelfth Monkey
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Yep.
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ALF
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That seems unusually harsh and a bit of a knee-jerk to the fact that debris has caused so much trouble in recent weeks. Poor pit-stops and wheels coming off as a result do happen. I wish the FIA didn't feel the need to legislate on everything 
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Big Blue
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| ALF wrote: | | I wish the FIA didn't feel the need to legislate on everything |
It's populated and run by lawyers.
What do you expect?
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BeN
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Pretty harsh, and could be the final push factor for Alonso to jump ship.
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Sav
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Interesting, they are just concentrating on loose wheels, yet don't percieve flying springs and to be worthy of race suspension - and somebody was badly injured. A very knee-jerk reaction, so the FIA are concentrating on just one part of a car, forget the rest.
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Humphrey The Pug
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The thing here is that Renault "knowingly" let Alonso go without his wheel having the correct safety devices fitted, which is a bit different to not tightening the nut properly or cross threading it or whatever.
Imagine if a car was racing with a known fault in it's suspension and then susequently caused an horrific accident due to the known faulty component breaking.
How the stewards knew that it was knowingly done is a different matter though.
It would be great to see Alonso at Ferrari for the forthcoming race or even the rest of the season, as Massa won't be driving again this year, but I can't see it due to contractual and sponsorship issues. Then again the whole issue with the team being suspended may have a bearing on his contract with Renault anyway.
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Humphrey The Pug
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| Sav wrote: | | Interesting, they are just concentrating on loose wheels, yet don't percieve flying springs and to be worthy of race suspension - and somebody was badly injured. A very knee-jerk reaction, so the FIA are concentrating on just one part of a car, forget the rest. |
"Knowingly" Sav, there is a difference to a component just breaking, which happens all of the time.
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Sav
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I would be intrigued to see how the stewards know Renault knowingly allowed Alonso to go with a loose wheel, I cannot quite see it - although I'm not sure. At the end of the day, Brawn's design seriously injured a driver which was far worse.
Perhaps the FIA just have to accept pitstops can go wrong in a high-pressure environment. So how about if the FIA explain the stewards decision a little more?
And components do not just fly out of the rear all the time either, at least three pieces flew out. If another flying piece ends up in a fatality (god forbid), they will become all touche over that too.
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Humphrey The Pug
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Weren't Benetton suspended for a few races back in the 90's for removing filters or safety devices on their re-fuelling rig to enable a faster flow of fuel into the car, similar thing to Alonso's wheel, a safety device was knowingly not used.
Maybe the stewards knew due to radio communications from the wheel guy.
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the other ct
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I'd be surprised if nando wasn't racing at Valencia. Otherwise it'll be a race around some docks with empty grandstands.
Have a feeling that Renault might be racing under appeal.
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TimR
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| Sav wrote: |
And components do not just fly out of the rear all the time either, at least three pieces flew out. |
I think if anything fell off the car at 160+ mph it would take other bits with it, especially as the main bit that came off is surrounded by other components and couldn't just drop out the back.
I presume the stewards watched Renault's pitstop and concluded that the lockwire thing wasn't fitted to the wheel.
The pitcrew guy would know he hadn't put it on.
I had a spring break, and a bit fall off, on my Stilo.
Until I heard the twang noise I didn't know anything was wrong and had been driving the car as normal.
I've changed numerous wheels and if I hadn't put all the bolts on or tightened them properly and then drove the car as normal I'd rightly be considered to be an idiot.
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SpecB
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Didn't the lollipop man let him go but the mechanic on that side hadn't yet put his hand up to say he was done?
If that's the case I bet it's a different lollipop guy next time!
It is a bit harsh on Alonso but hopefully he will switch next week.
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Big Blue
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So Renault are suspended............
.................unlike Barrichello's Brawn, eh? 
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BeN
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Webber also had a pit lane incident. I'm surprised that wasn't picked up.
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"him"
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| Big Blue wrote: | So Renault are suspended............
.................unlike Barrichello's Brawn, eh? |
They will spring back...
Barrichello did after all, bolt off to check if Massa was OK!
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canadian bacon
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Am waiting in suspense for the next bad pun (unlike Barichello's car).....
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Chris M Wants a V-10
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| BeN wrote: | | Webber also had a pit lane incident. I'm surprised that wasn't picked up. |
I believe that Red Bull were fined severely for an "unsafe release"
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Dr. Hfuhruhurr
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| canadian bacon wrote: | | Am waiting in suspense for the next bad pun (unlike Barichello's car)..... |
I could post one but I wouldn't want to put a damper on the thread, and it would be in bad taste to strut around when Massa was injured.
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Gooner
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| Chris M Wants a V-10 wrote: | | BeN wrote: | | Webber also had a pit lane incident. I'm surprised that wasn't picked up. |
I believe that Red Bull were fined severely for an "unsafe release" |
I don't think the stewards took action on that. Mainly because Webber lost his position and managed to avoid Raikkonen. If Kimi had to stop and Webber got away in front I imagine a drive through or even a stop-go penalty would have been incurred so he was very lucky with that one.
I think the main issue with Renault was not just that the pit-crew knew the wheel wasn't on but that the team let Alonso carry on until it fell off. They should have demanded he pull over and retire the car safely.
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