FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[McLaren Fan]

From autosport.com:

By Pablo Elizalde Saturday, August 2nd 2008, 16:01 GMT

Sebastien Bourdais has been given a five-place grid penalty for impeding Nick Heidfeld during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The German driver complained that Bourdais had slowed him down during his final run in Q1, when the Frenchman was right in front near the end of the lap.

As a result of the incident, Heidfeld failed to make it to Q2 for the first time this year.

The stewards decided to give Bourdais a five-position grid penalty, meaning the Toro Rosso driver will start from the back of the grid.

The stewards also investigated an incident between Williams' Kazuki Nakajima and Renault's Fernando Alonso, but no action was taken.

How the hell did they come to this decision? Did they not see the same footage the rest of us did!

[Hanwombat]

Heidfeld was on a poo lap anyways, he would of only lost a tenth or so

[McLaren Fan]

Heidfeld was on a poo lap anyways, he would of only lost a tenth or so

Heidlfeld was pathetic. Even if Bourdais did cost him a tenth, he was still so far behind that he was not going to make the cut. There was nothing Bourdais could do to avoid Heidfeld anyway. Bourdais himself was backed up with traffic. Formula One stewards have no common sense whatsoever. Can Bourdais not appeal this absurd decision?

[Denthúl]

Heidfeld was on a poo lap anyways, he would of only lost a tenth or so

Would have made the difference between getting in to Q2 and dropping out where he was, though.

Heidlfeld was pathetic. Even if Bourdais did cost him a tenth, he was still so far behind that he was not going to make the cut. There was nothing Bourdais could do to avoid Heidfeld anyway. Bourdais himself was backed up with traffic. Formula One stewards have no common sense whatsoever. Can Bourdais not appeal this absurd decision?

Indeed, but I think the reason was desperation - he's struggling so much with getting heat into the tyres that anything that could cost him time is like Hamilton being caused a half-second loss on a lap, which would amost certainly cost him pole position. That's how bad Heidfeld's situation is. So, I can understand why he would do it, but I am quite disappointed in him for it.

[McLaren Fan]

I'm disappointed for Heidfeld as well. He's one of Formula One's good guys, is working hard to improve his qualifying woes, and perhaps even driving for his BMW seat next year, so I can see why he got worked up about what happened to him. That said, there was nothing Bourdais could do about the matter, so I don't see why he should be punished. It's not as if Bourdais was in a position to move off the racing line etc.

[przemo]

Don't the rules state that if a driver impedes another in qualifying he gets a penalty? Surely there's no mention of whether that was a crappy lap or not. Same happened with Kovalainen this year with blocking Webber IIRC (and Webber did get into Q2). According to the stewards Bourdais did impede Heidfeld, so he gets a penalty. Simple as that.
Having said that, I was also surprised by that ruling, because I thought that Bourdais was too far away to slow Heidfeld down. But Nick also made an error (maybe distracted) which cost him much more.

[edit:]
Also I think it was the team's mistake to let both drivers out so late, especially Heidfeld since everybody knows he has qualifying problems, so he should be doing several laps. Their confidence failed them this time and I hope they will learn from this.

[Rivelution]

I'm disappointed for Heidfeld as well. He's one of Formula One's good guys, is working hard to improve his qualifying woes, and perhaps even driving for his BMW seat next year, so I can see why he got worked up about what happened to him. That said, there was nothing Bourdais could do about the matter, so I don't see why he should be punished. It's not as if Bourdais was in a position to move off the racing line etc.

Ditto. Heidfeld is an honest man but even if Bourdais impeded him, Heidfeld probably wouldnt have made it out of Q2.

[al4x]

what could bourdais do,

say he was on a quali lap, and a car, also on a quali lap catch him, does he have to move, sacraficing his lap just cause the car behind is better?

im never quite sure what they do there

he caught bourdais at the apex of the finl turn, bourdais would not be looking in his mirrors at or near an apex!

who dishes out these penalties surely cant drive!

[Kiwi_Chris]

whoever decided that penalty should be fired, he was probably concentrating on the car that just passed him and cut him off. I can understand that Heidfeld is pissed but what the hell was bourdais going to do

[EwanM]

whoever decided that penalty should be fired, he was probably concentrating on the car that just passed him and cut him off. I can understand that Heidfeld is pissed but what the hell was bourdais going to do

At the same time, this is a man fighting for his career at BMW. The Guy is solid and now not far behind Kubica in points, but Thiesen is still not impressed.Certainly in this instance, you'd blame everyone but yourself for such a poor job.

[Kiwi_Chris]

whoever decided that penalty should be fired, he was probably concentrating on the car that just passed him and cut him off. I can understand that Heidfeld is pissed but what the hell was bourdais going to do

At the same time, this is a man fighting for his career at BMW. The Guy is solid and now not far behind Kubica in points, but Thiesen is still not impressed.Certainly in this instance, you'd blame everyone but yourself for such a poor job.

But the stewards are the ones who screwed the pooch with the penalty, it really wasnt justified

[EwanM]

whoever decided that penalty should be fired, he was probably concentrating on the car that just passed him and cut him off. I can understand that Heidfeld is pissed but what the hell was bourdais going to do

At the same time, this is a man fighting for his career at BMW. The Guy is solid and now not far behind Kubica in points, but Thiesen is still not impressed.Certainly in this instance, you'd blame everyone but yourself for such a poor job.

But the stewards are the ones who screwed the pooch with the penalty, it really wasnt justified

Yeah course, was a pointless penalty. BUT Heidfeld screwed up his lap, and he was in a bad mood after it. Unlike him.

[7UpJordan]

It seems the FIA have something against my favourite drivers.

[bud]

that was a disgrace

[Mikep99]

Yeh it is stupid.

But it could have been worse.
Just Imagine if it was McLaren being penalized.

CONSPIRACY anyone

After all it could be nothing BUT