FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[bud]

McLaren has been shuffled down to the very end of the Sakhir pitlane ahead of this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix.

Despite brokering a deal to occupy the fifth garage slots in Melbourne and Sepang, it has emerged that the Anglo-German squad is to receive the lowliest pit allocation in Bahrain, for as yet unexplained reasons.

Mercedes-powered McLaren finished last in the 2007 constructors' championship last year, due to its espionage penalty, meaning that Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen have to race with the highest numbers: 22 and 23.

But before the season began, Bernie Ecclestone agreed to spare McLaren the indignity of also having the farthest pit slots, so that one of F1's 'Big Two' teams can still have access to first-class circuit facilities this year.

Organisers of the Bahrain Grand Prix, however, revealed on Sunday that Formula One Management has ordered the promoters to arrange for McLaren to be housed next to Force India, the local newspaper Gulf Daily News said.

McLaren Group is part owned by Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, which is wholly owned by the Kingdom of Bahrain.

"Originally it was planned that the team would take its place in the fifth set of garages, as it did for the Malaysian and Australian Grands Prix. However late notice arrived to announce that instead of garages 15-18, the Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes team would take up residence in garages 33-35.

Traditionally the pit lane allocation is decided by the previous season's points but McLaren scored no points in the constructors' championship despite its drivers finishing second and third in the drivers' title battle behind Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen," reads a presse release from the Bahrain International Circuit.

"We understand that it is in line with the rules and regulations of the sport for McLaren, which scored no points in the 2007 constructors' championship, to take the final set of garages," said Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa, Chief Operating Officer of the BIC.

"However in Bahrain we do our utmost to ensure that fans of each team get to sit opposite their favourite team's pit garages to see the action unfold. Sadly on this occasion we must apologise to McLaren fans and accept that this is force majeure," he added.

they win a race and everyones scared it seems

F'n stick it to em McLaren

[al4x]

well i thought if they finish with the lowest points they should start at the back, but from the start of the calendar

why now, its yet further inconsistancy

[bud]

exactly al4x from the start no issues from me but to say yeah you can have 5th then go back on it really pisses me off! like i said they win a race next race both cars punished next race again this.

why not make them race with 3 freaking rims ffs

[al4x]

ferrari and the fia secret meeting?

and did they say the fans wont be rearranged?

[Jensonb]

Of more interest to me is why this wasn't the case in the first place, it's where they were supposed to be housed.

That being said, switching around without moving the fans, that's just stupid and way out of line

[racechick]

More fun and games from the FIA

[McLaren Fan]

Ridiculous. Just what the hell is happening? Regardless of the rights and wrongs of the guilty verdict against McLaren, at that time a decision was made to put McLaren in the last pit garage, then a deal was brokered to give them the fifth garage, and now the men in smoke-filled rooms have reverted to their original decision. There are no rules, there is no consistency, there is no professionalism. Formula One, the highest category of motorsport, has been run in such an amateur, smallie-boy fashion for far too long. The FIA needs overhauled and the sport's rules codified.

[stonemonkey]

quote: Jensonb
'Of more interest to me is why this wasn't the case in the first place, it's where they were supposed to be housed.'

That's not strictly true, the FIA designate space for the teams and they usually use the points for the previous season to determine where although that's not a rule and they can place the teams wherever they like. I'd be interested in hearing why they've made this change after 2 races though.

[McLaren Fan]

quote: Jensonb
'Of more interest to me is why this wasn't the case in the first place, it's where they were supposed to be housed.'

That's not strictly true, the FIA designate space for the teams and they usually use the points for the previous season to determine where although that's not a rule and they can place the teams wherever they like. I'd be interested in hearing why they've made this change after 2 races though.

Jensonb has completely missed the point. This is not some tit-for-tat matter about the spy scandal, it's about the fact a decision was made, then changed, then changed again - all of a sudden. Why? On whose wishes? What's the agenda?

As stonemonkey pointed out, there is no official rule on this. It's more gentleman's practice or an unwritten rule, which is crazy given the advantages of being further up the pitlane.

[Jensonb]

quote: Jensonb
'Of more interest to me is why this wasn't the case in the first place, it's where they were supposed to be housed.'

That's not strictly true, the FIA designate space for the teams and they usually use the points for the previous season to determine where although that's not a rule and they can place the teams wherever they like. I'd be interested in hearing why they've made this change after 2 races though.

Jensonb has completely missed the point. This is not some tit-for-tat matter about the spy scandal, it's about the fact a decision was made, then changed, then changed again - all of a sudden. Why? On whose wishes? What's the agenda?

As stonemonkey pointed out, there is no official rule on this. It's more gentleman's practice or an unwritten rule, which is crazy given the advantages of being further up the pitlane.

I've not missed the point mate, I just don't care as much - I'm not saying not at all, just not as much as you. Which is obvious because you're a McLaren Fan and I don't care for them.

The "supposed to be" comment is not with regards to rules, but to convention. Moving McLaren from the conventional (For the last placed team) last pit to the fifth was the kind of cynical big team favouritism you lot normally moan incessantly about Ferrari receiving. To that end, this is a corrective measure. That doesn't mean randomly overturning decisions, however stupid or unfair, without warning or efforts to deal with the consequences is something I support. So please, do not presume to know what I am thinking.

For what it's worth, I don't approve of the change. I don't have problem with rules changing where necessary, but this was a simple decision which they should have stood by. I don't agree with their initial decision, but changing it out of the blue it is callousness typified.

[McLaren Fan]

Moving McLaren from the conventional (For the last placed team) last pit to the fifth was the kind of cynical big team favouritism you lot normally moan incessantly about Ferrari receiving.

Ecclestone negotiated the deal with Red Bull out of self interest: he wanted to keep all of McLaren's very high-profile sponsors happy in order to support his own business interests, not to do McLaren a favour.

[Selcouth_Feline]

This is not some tit-for-tat matter about the spy scandal, it's about the fact a decision was made, then changed, then changed again - all of a sudden. Why? On whose wishes? What's the agenda?
.

Quite. I'm getting a bit sick of all this politics crud. I wonder if it's been done to try and upset the routine at McLaren - after all, if you know you are going to get smaller pits than normal, you'll have to plan what you can and can't take, and what to do with the normal stuff you have that won't fit in your new smaller pit garage. The FIA (?) made a decision to let McLaren have a larger garage - so stick to that decision. I am by no means a McLaren fan, but all this chopping and changing is ridiculous.

[Denthúl]

More fun and games from the FIA

Ridiculous. Just what the hell is happening? Regardless of the rights and wrongs of the guilty verdict against McLaren, at that time a decision was made to put McLaren in the last pit garage, then a deal was brokered to give them the fifth garage, and now the men in smoke-filled rooms have reverted to their original decision. There are no rules, there is no consistency, there is no professionalism. Formula One, the highest category of motorsport, has been run in such an amateur, smallie-boy fashion for far too long. The FIA needs overhauled and the sport's rules codified.

This is not some tit-for-tat matter about the spy scandal, it's about the fact a decision was made, then changed, then changed again - all of a sudden. Why? On whose wishes? What's the agenda?
.

Quite. I'm getting a bit sick of all this politics crud. I wonder if it's been done to try and upset the routine at McLaren - after all, if you know you are going to get smaller pits than normal, you'll have to plan what you can and can't take, and what to do with the normal stuff you have that won't fit in your new smaller pit garage. The FIA (?) made a decision to let McLaren have a larger garage - so stick to that decision. I am by no means a McLaren fan, but all this chopping and changing is ridiculous.

FOM =/= FIA

This is Bernie's organisation making this particular decision, not Max's. I agree, however, that they should have stuck to their original decision or else not made it in the first place.

[7UpJordan]

Sounds like pretty bad organisation by the officials at the Sakhir circuit... or at the end of the day it's Mad Max up to his usual tricks.

[EwanM]

Sounds like pretty bad organisation by the officials at the Sakhir circuit... or at the end of the day it's Mad Max up to his usual tricks.