Formula 1
Harsh penalty for error-prone McLaren - reaction
GMM
Edited: May 14, 2012, 11:12 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
May 13 (GMM) The penalty might be harsh, but the loss of Lewis Hamilton's pole in Spain is just the latest calamitous mistake by McLaren.
That was the tone of the paddock's reaction to the news late on Saturday that a McLaren gaffe saw the FIA send Hamilton from first to last on the Spanish Grand Prix grid.
The Sun newspaper called it a draconian "24-place grid penalty" imposed by the FIA after an "astonishing cock-up" by McLaren.
Hamilton was told on the radio to pull over after his pole lap due to a "technical problem".
Sporting director Sam Michael argued 'force majeure', but the stewards ruled that it had been entirely McLaren's fault that not enough fuel was put into Hamilton's car to ensure a scrutineering fuel sample.
Writing in the Telegraph, Tom Cary said the severity of the disqualification "raised eyebrows", but agreed that "McLaren's mistake was horrendous".
He said it has been "a season of errors" by the famous British team, who are yet to get Hamilton's signature on a new contract beyond 2012.
"Hamilton must be seething," read an article in the Daily Mail newspaper, while The Times laid out McLaren's "catalogue of errors".
27-year-old Hamilton's "raw talent is being thwarted by mishap and cock-up," said journalist Kevin Eason.
"McLaren are lovely people but how the hell do they get themselves in this position?" wrote the Mirror's Byron Young on Twitter.
Even the non-English language media agreed.
"It was another great mistake by McLaren that could eventually cost Hamilton the championship," wrote Livio Oricchio in O Estado de S.Paulo.
Italy's La Stampa called McLaren's fuel gaffe a case of "harakiri".
Germany's Auto Motor und Sport added: "It was error number 13 for McLaren since last year".
While highly critical of McLaren's own-goal, however, the feeling in the paddock is that the stewards' penalty - although accepted by McLaren - was overly harsh.
"Back of the grid? Way, way too harsh", said the Mirror's Young on Twitter.
"Draconian penalty in my view," agreed PA Sport's Ian Parkes. "Dropping Q3 time would have sufficed."
Sky commentator Martin Brundle added: "(I) feel they should have deleted that (Q3) laptime only which would have put him sixth".
And excluding Hamilton from Q3 altogether would have put him 11th. Now, he will be "lucky to score a point", Auto Motor und Sport predicted.
In the Independent, however, David Tremayne noted: "Welcome to the draconian world of F1."
David Croft, the lead Sky commentator, said the FIA stewards had acted correctly.
"A good rule should be one that covers all eventualities with a penalty that acts as a deterrent which in this case is what happened.
"Too little fuel can't be tolerated," he added. "It seems harsh but had Lewis taken pole by one thousandth of a second, would it be harsh then?"
The Spanish fans - not Hamilton's biggest supporters dating back to his spats with Fernando Alonso in 2007 - were happy.
Asked on the El Mundo website whether the penalty was fair, 76 per cent answered yes.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Mateschitz, Montezemolo, to join F1 board
Next article Season of confusion to continue on Sunday
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
GMM
The season is still very long - Rosberg
Formula 1
Formula 1
The season is still very long - Rosberg
Jules Bianchi's father speaks of family's continued hopes
Formula 1
Formula 1
Jules Bianchi's father speaks of family's continued hopes
Sauber under no illusions about constructors' position
Formula 1
Formula 1
Chinese GP
Sauber under no illusions about constructors' position
More from
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton: Kimi Antonelli “deserves to be the champion”
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
11 min
Lewis Hamilton: Kimi Antonelli “deserves to be the champion”
Why it's now Oliver Bearman versus Rafael Camara for the next Ferrari vacancy
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
7 h
Why it's now Oliver Bearman versus Rafael Camara for the next Ferrari vacancy
More from
McLaren
The figures that show Mercedes has lost its supremacy in F1 2026
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
The figures that show Mercedes has lost its supremacy in F1 2026
McLaren held fresh talks after Singapore GP clash as Lando Norris promises to "make better decisions"
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
McLaren held fresh talks after Singapore GP clash as Lando Norris promises to "make better decisions"
Latest news
Chase Elliott withdraws his name from NASCAR Most Popular Driver voting
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
6 min
Chase Elliott withdraws his name from NASCAR Most Popular Driver voting
Lewis Hamilton: Kimi Antonelli “deserves to be the champion”
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
11 min
Lewis Hamilton: Kimi Antonelli “deserves to be the champion”
Alex Marquez: Marco Bezzecchi ‘miscalculated’ move in bizarre practice crash
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
18 min
Alex Marquez: Marco Bezzecchi ‘miscalculated’ move in bizarre practice crash
IndyCar unveils full 2027 schedule with Barcelona debut and all-network FOX coverage
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 31 min
IndyCar unveils full 2027 schedule with Barcelona debut and all-network FOX coverage
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe