Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso Penalized for Actually Racing in an F1 Race

Anyone who thinks that they can understand the mindset of the FIA and race stewards is either a psychic or schizophrenic, because it is beyond the intellect of we mortals to predict or understand how penalties are applied in Formula One.

As the dust settled on an interesting and often exciting Malaysian Grand Prix, they saw fit to hand out 20-second penalties to McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso for actually having the audacity to engage in some riveting wheel-to-wheel racing, something that we rarely get to see in this modern era.

Hamilton received his penalty for too many changes of direction on the main straight. They weren’t sharp changes of direction, he didn’t do it while Alonso was in the act of overtaking, he simply did it to make it a bit more difficult for the Spaniard to pick up his slipstream.

Alonso received his penalty for clipping the rear of Hamilton’s car several corners later while trying to set his car up for an overtake. It was the tiniest of misjudgements that caused the loss of part of the Ferrari front wing and some minor damage to Hamilton’s car. Alonso was the big loser from the incident anyway.

These were racing incidents in the finest tradition of Formula One. There was none of the wheel banging that we saw from Gilles Villeneuve and Rene Arnoux. It was fair and clean and completely unworthy of a penalty.

More than anything, it is the inconsistency of these judgments that is so baffling. Last year, we had Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton driving side-by-side down pit lane with Vettel squeezing Hamilton into other team’s pit boxes. Their punishment? Only a reprimand for the transgression, for one of the most dangerous acts in racing.

In Melbourne 2010, Mark Webber’s frustration boiled over and he hit Hamilton’s car in what appeared to be a maneuver born of anger rather than race craft.

Webber’s penalty? Nothing, he didn’t even face the stewards.

The decision is even ridiculous in the face of the introduction of DRS and re-introduction of KERS—two devices specifically designed to make the racing more interesting. What happens when it works? You penalise the drivers. Ridiculous.

Ferrari and McLaren have both accepted their penalty with good grace. Both penalties were technically valid, but so far from what is actually in the interests of F1 racing as to defy logic. There was no danger to either driver, or anyone else for that matter.

Formula One is supposed to be the pinnacle of motorsport and, at its heart, it should also be about racing. The FIA just needs to get out of the way and let them get on with it.

Don’t hold your breath.