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Formula 1 Lotus

“Whoa! What was that?”

Esteban Gutierrez gets flipped off my Pastor Maldonado

The most spectacular incident from this morning’s Bahrain Grand Prix happened when Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado drove into Esteban Gutierrez and flipped over the young Mexican and his Sauber C33.

Gutierrez, bemused immediately after the impact and now resting back on his wheels, asked over the radio: “Whoa! What was that?”

Thankfully, we can laugh about it now because Gutierrez was not hurt.

After the break we have a series of photos captured by those watching the race and shared with the world via twitter, starting with the image above from the BBC.

For his troubles Maldonado received a 10-second stop-go penalty and will also incur a five-place grid penalty after qualifying at the next grand prix. And, yes, in case you were wondering, that is in no way commensurate with the 10-second stop-go penalty and subsequent 10-place grid penalty for harming nobody after driving 100m down pit lane or so with a loose wheel handed down to our Daniel!

Maldonado has also been handed 3 points against his Super Licence, which could lead to a race suspension if he accumulates 12 or more points this season.

UPDATE: Thanks to Scott for the YouTube link, which has been embedded below.

 

 

 

 

7 replies on ““Whoa! What was that?””

No F1 drivers have been killed on the track in 19 years and 49 weeks, but amidst all the back-patting over that stat hitting 20 in a few weeks will anybody remember that F1 hasn’t actually been fatality free in that time – marshals have been killed including two by wheels coming loose. Ricciardo’s penalty was quite fair (a fine would have been useless at encouraging Red Bull to do safer pit stops, with their repeated poor form in this area it had to be something they couldn’t buy their way out of) so build a bridge and get over it.

I would have preferred a more humiliating penalty for Red Bull, such as the next race having them swapping to five bolt wheels, and/or an FIA official carefully checking each wheel to ensure it is properly attached before the car can leave the pits.

Maldonado’s penalty should be revised and strengthened, but that should be considered separately from Ricciardo’s penalty. I would suggest a three race suspension for Maldonado, with the team not being allowed a replacement for those races unless they fire him completely.

That’s a good point about the marshals. I do happen to think Daniel’s penalty was harsh, but had happily accepted it for the reasons you’ve explained.

But it’s a little hard to reconcile the penalty given to Ricciardo when compared with Maldonado’s, given one driver was completely at fault and one was the fault of his pit crew. In fact, IIRC it was Daniel himself that spotted the loose wheel and stopped immediately, thereby acting to help reduce the risk involved to other drivers and officials.

His penalty may well be fair, but it’s hardly just if you (in effect) get a lesser penalty for flipping a driver over easy. Which we seem to agree on as it happens.

The ease with which Guitierrez’s car flipped over is startling. Would this have happened with last years car design? I doubt it. So is it better to T-bone someone or flip them over on their lid?
Also, there was some speculation on the American broadcast that Guitierrez could be found at fault for cutting the corner too close and not appreciating the risk the low nose poses. Apparently FIA saw it differently. I think moving forward, everyone will appreciate the intersection of tight corners, low noses, and twitchy brakes.

@Yankee – cars exiting the pit lane are to give way to cars on the track, and they have a flashing blue light at the exit to warn them if others are approaching at speed. Maybe the rules in US racing are different and this was the cause of the announcers’ ignorance of international racing rules.
The low nose doesn’t appear to have been involved, just Maldonado’s front tyre hitting Gutierrez’ rear tyre. Maybe the left hand side of the front wing hit the side pod in front of the rear tyre, but the front wings just shred and that would have had no involvement in flipping the car.

@Liam – I agree that Maldonado’s penalty should be increased, but Ricciardo’s was a little too soft considering Red Bull’s record. Racing is a sport where the team members win together, but the flip side of that is that they have to lose together as well – and that includes the equal and opposite case of all the other team members being penalised for the driver’s actions despite not being at fault. Would you have objected, for example, to Lotus-Renault being penalised constructors’ points if Maldonado was in a points position and the incident occurred a bit later in the race for it to be dealt with by a stop-go penalty?

As a former volunteer marshal, I’m disgusted by Red Bull’s long run of repeat offences with unsafe pit stops. If the FIA had any backbone the Malaysia incident would have seen the whole team disqualified from the constructors’ points race and suspended from the Bahrain GP to allow their pit crew sufficient time to practice properly.

Excellent point about the tire to tire contact which is a better explanation as to why Guitierresz’ car seemed to spring into the air. Thanks!

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