- 19 Nov 12, 18:35#335178
Grosjean's drop doesn't really have any bearing on the issue, imo the issue is the rules allowing a team to deliberately re-shuffle the grid to their advantage. I don't think anyone would drop a driver 5 places just to get him onto the clean side and the way things worked in this situation Alonso was moved up 1 and onto the clean side, making the penalty an even number of places wouldn't have made any difference to where Alonso ended up. Massa would still have been on the dirty side but I doubt Ferrari would've been too worried about that.
I think we agree that it's not good that this can be done but an effective solution or deterrent won't be easy.
You can rest assured that Vettel will have the alternator of the millennium installed in that Renault engine come Sunday.A penalty of an even number of grid slots wouldn't have changed much, Ferrari were focused on what effect it would have on Alonso.
It's debateable, I think Ferrari were more keen to get Alonso out of the dirty side than they were moving him up one spot on the grid and that would be solved by an even number penalty. It would also not effectively punish/reward other drivers since it would affect everyone down the line.
It was Massa who got the penalty, whether he was moved 5 or 6 places would make no difference to where Alonso moved to.
You're missing one thing, Alonso had moved to on an even grid slot because Grosjean was penalized, moving everyone behind moving Alonso one spot and therefore at a disadvantage on the dirty side. Massa's move was to undo the damage done by Grosjean with the added benefit of moving him up another spot.
Regardless of the intent though, it still wreaks havoc onto others, when they get move from the clean side to the dirty side. The difference is not that great in some tracks but here because of the circuit being virgin, dust, oil etc, it was abysmal.
Grosjean's drop doesn't really have any bearing on the issue, imo the issue is the rules allowing a team to deliberately re-shuffle the grid to their advantage. I don't think anyone would drop a driver 5 places just to get him onto the clean side and the way things worked in this situation Alonso was moved up 1 and onto the clean side, making the penalty an even number of places wouldn't have made any difference to where Alonso ended up. Massa would still have been on the dirty side but I doubt Ferrari would've been too worried about that.
I think we agree that it's not good that this can be done but an effective solution or deterrent won't be easy.
To use my phone in the car I deleted all my German contacts, it's now Hans free.
and walk off.........................*
