Schumacher unpunished for Massa move

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The Canadian Grand Prix stewards decided to take no action over the collision between Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa in the closing stages of the race.

Massa’s race engineer Rob Smedley claimed Schumacher had caused a collision by braking too early for the final chicane. Massa drew alongside the Mercedes and lost his front wing as the pair made contact.

The stewards’ report said:

After hearing the explanation of both competitors’ representatives and the drivers [we] decided that the incident requires no further action.

Massa, however, was given a 20-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane in his subsequent pit stop.

Two other drivers received reprimands for incidents during the race.

Robert Kubica was reprimanded for weaving around Adrian Sutil at speed on his way into the pits.

And Jaime Alguersuari was reprimanded for a collision with Rubens Barrichello, which caused Barrichello to pit for a new front wing.

2010 Canadian Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    89 comments on “Schumacher unpunished for Massa move”

    1. I think Schumacher got away with some awful driving today.

      1. I would also say so.

        1. What surprised me is the number of chicanes Schumacher cut today. He cut corners everytime a driver had the inside line, or a better chance of getting a good exit.

          However.. I’m glad he finished outside the points, and got taken to school by some midfielders.

          1. Not really that surprising surely, it’s always been in his repertoire. So too shoving people off track. Today was like seeing some desperate aging boxing lashing out in any direction while reeling all over the place. Maybe just paranoia or a bad attitude towards the man, but I’ve a real foreboding that he’s going to end up deciding this championship with one of these stunts.

            1. I enjoyed watching him defend like that. Reminds me of the good old days with plenty of action.

              Now days everyone is too respectful and we hardly ever see feisty fighting like Michael did today.

              MS did go overboard by a bit, but it was still entertaining to watch.

            2. Well, in any way Schumi’s antics beat those who dive out of the way of others, which is something we wouldn’t want to see. Schumacher, and his team made the woeful strategical error of trying to stay out on soft tyres for half the race, hence his car was incredibly slow and he had to use every trick in the book to defend like hell.

            3. yeah. I really like the way the stewards are trying for a lighter touch this season; take that incident in the pitlane with Alonso and Hamilton. They could have been very severe, but we saw two brilliant drivers stay out of trouble and race the wheels off each other. Brilliant stuff.
              And well handled.

              But some of Schumacher’s moves today were bloody dangerous. And the one he pulled on Massa was definitely out of order. Very blatant and very cold blooded.

              Are they afraid to punish the old devil ?

            4. rob, well I totally agree it was entertaining, and I’d rather see some slightly outrageous defending than drivers meekly giving way. Just wonder how far he’ll go with this! And I thought the end result for Massa was extremely harsh – pushed off track (illegal blocking?), nose snubbed and a pit lane penalty all as a result! And I don’t see how having bad tyres excuses dodgy driving – there’s always the option of pitting!

            5. been some time now since I heard/saw someone doing a real break test on another driver. About 3 years ago I think.. Ohh wait Schumacher not been in the race for 3 years.. That would explain a thing or two… ;P Can’t say I missed that dirty driving.

            6. “And I don’t see how having bad tyres excuses dodgy driving – there’s always the option of pitting!”

              And I already mentioned that Schumacher made an error.

            7. “been some time now since I heard/saw someone doing a real break test on another driver. About 3 years ago I think.. Ohh wait Schumacher not been in the race for 3 years.. ”

              More like 30 laps ago, when Sutil was said to have “braked early and hard” in front of Kubica.

            8. Common sense, guys.

              Schumacher was in trouble with brakes and tires. He’d either brake late but miss the chicane, or he’d brake early and be accused of ‘brake-testing’.

              Eitherways, he’s just a villian to you guys. God I wish it was Aryton Senna was alive today, and he wasn’t a pushover either!

          2. “Are they afraid to punish the old devil ?”

            wasn’t Monaco 2010’s absurd penalty in the recent past by chance?

            1. Agree that Monaco decision was way over the top. But I also don’t think the move Schumaker pulled then endangered anyone. It was opportunistic.

              Whereas some of the high-speed tactics he pulled on Kubica and Massa et el could have been nasty. Yes, his tyres were shot and the Merc is not as hot as many of his rivals. Doesn’t excuse calculated bullying.

              And just for the record, I rejoiced when I heard Schui was back. And I wish him well now. The very fact that he’s on the grid is excellent for F1. Just wish Raikonnen and Villeneuve were back as well !

      2. I think some of you are channeling DC and Brundle. Schumacher drove like a 7 time world champion would. He fights and he doesn’t give up.

        1- the Kubica incident was brilliant aggressive driving. Schumacher had to cut the chicane because Kubica wasn’t turning and they would have collided. The end result was bad for Schumacher.

        2- The Massa incident was just bad luck for Massa. By then Schumacher had no tires and no traction and it makes sense that he would brake early.

        I, for one, am glad that Schumacher is back. He has demonstrated that he is still capable of aggressive driving and the drive to one.

        That is who someone becomes a world champion. Someone should mention that to DC and Brundle.

        1. Amen to that .

        2. I agree with you rantsonf1, He was just depending his position and a real fighter. SO entertaining!!! Its good for F1 with him around.

        3. @Rantson. He had lost the inside line to Kubica on that move, and the only way he could have still kept position was by cutting the chicane. I think he should have given up that position, as there is a fine line between aggressive defending and desperate tactics.

          While defending the Massa move, he did not have to cut all the way in front of him to defend that position, it looked like he was trying to force Massa into an error or atleast push him onto the grass.

          I really dont find his antics ‘commendable’. I think ‘pathetic’ is the word I was looking for.

          1. If you look at the race-time chart in the next article Keith put up, you can see that MSC starts losing a lot of time when Buemi gets on his tail (he was right on Rosberg, but pitted).

            With Kubica he had to go in for a puncture, putting him on softs that had to last very early.

            It is speculation, but maybe if he had taken it easier and let Kubica pass him without so much trouble, he would have been in better shape when Buemi got there. Also, he could have let Buemi past easier, and would have been in better shape with Massa, then Luizzi and Sutil.

            So I think he outdrove himself by being too aggressive, instead of taking the example of Hamilton who seemed to have learned by now that sometimes it is good to be saving the tires. (Something which MSC did rather well when the need arose in the past, I think.)

          2. @Tod. Why should Michael have given up the position, when Kubica cut the chicane, cutting off any chance Schumacher had of taking the corner safely anyway? His efforts were commendable for someone trying to finish the race having done 37 laps on super soft tyres around Montreal.

        4. I didn’t even see the race , but reading the comments is enough to tell me that the Schu. maybe was battling because of some car and strategic problems , but the fighting spirit is still very much alive , and when the car can compete at the front , will see some very interesting battles with the likes of Hamilton , Alonso ,Vettel and Webber.

        5. Completely agreed with that. Thanks

        6. I absolutely agree with rantsonf1, a fully deserving COTD.

    2. Very surprised. The other decisions made sense, but not even a reprimand for this one?

      1. I am very surprised by something else – why Hamilton racing along the pit lanes (again!) was not even considered for penalty? For the same case in China he was reprimanded (or warned).
        This is question to a certain Charlie Whiting, the race director.
        It’s ridiculous why he is penalising other drivers for causing a danger and not Hamilton gets away again? Oh, because 20 sec drive-throu would disrupt his victory, perhaps?

        Whiting simply did not send this incident to consideration by judges.
        Hamilton wasn’t punished before and now he felt he could race in pitlanes again. And this is Whiting to blame.
        This guy should be removed from his position – the quicker the better for this sport.

        1. We want turbos
          14th June 2010, 2:22

          The pitlane was wide enough and the drivers whilst racing stuck to the lane an gave each other room!! It was proper clean racing whereas china was dangerous as they where close to mechanics! I also seem to remember a certain spainish guy in a red car racing into pits! I loved that move!!

    3. Didn’t see a problem myself. Schumacher looked like he lost the car under braking rather than doing anything deliberately – and with the state of his tyres you can see why

    4. Massa, however, was given a 20-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane in his subsequent pit stop. That dropped him from 15th to 17th in the final classification – see the updated finishing positions here.

      Uh, Keith, didn’t Massa finish a lap ahead of Kovalainen and Petrov? Because if he did, his finishing position doesn’t change. That’s how Autosport are reporting it:

      http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/84478

      1. Just checked the official classification and you’re right, my mistake. Have corrected the text and finishing order.

    5. maestrointhesky
      13th June 2010, 22:13

      What happened to the 3 strikes (short cuts) and your out rule – i.e. served with a drive through penalty? Glad that he got no points though!

      1. It’s not a written rule; it even changes from race to race; for instance, at last year’s Monza race Charlie Whiting said drivers were only allowed to cut the first corner once in the race.

    6. Schuey was basically desperate is the best I can give him. At the same time I don’t think he did anything particularly wrong. It was just very aggressive defending.

    7. That’s amazing, to treat Massa, his “protege” like that.

      If anyone thought Schumi had lost any of his ruthless streak… they were wrong….

    8. Time to retire old chap, blame the neck injury and bow out gracefully.

      1. He had just driven a few good races, so a setback doesn’t instantly mean he ought to retire.

      2. That is not Schumachers style,neither is the car any good as it is now.However knowing how long it took him to get the Ferrari as he wanted it (memories are short on this subject.LOL),he will just keep working at it until he does.Was Lewis born when Michael won the 1st Canadian GP??? Will Lewis still be racing in 20 years time/Hopefully yes.

        1. The question here is not about the longevity of Hamilton, only the ability of Schumacher to drive safely at this moment. On today’s performance, he seems incapable.

          1. SennaProstMansell
            14th June 2010, 1:38

            What wasn’t safe about the way he was driving?

            Against Kubica, both knew what would happen when they try to take the corner side by side, they both decided to do it anyway.
            The overtakes at the end were sort of stupid/senseless. All cars behind Schumacher had a pace that was over 1,5s faster than his, but instead of waiting for a bit, looking for the right place to overtake, they had to try it immediately. Massa especially had all the time in the world but he had to try overtaking at that spot around the outside? Or Liuzzis ramming Schumacher instead of pushing his buttons, causing him to take the defensive line into the hairpin, then himself accelerating SO much better onto the long straight and using his topspeed advantage (FI was much faster than MGP in the straights).
            Schumacher probably didn’t score and friendships today, but I’m sure he doesn’t care about that.

            Oh and just by the way, where is the reprimand for the unsafe release Ham vs Alo? (no, I’m not serious)

          2. So Vettel and Webbers collision was OK,not dangerous at all,so was Hamiltons and Jensons tactics in Turkey applauded — but Schumacher has to tip toe around tracks doffing his cap to other drivers or bow out of F1? The analogy is mind boggling.
            I think you are missing the point of F1,it is dangerous,it is mind blowing,it always was and always will be.Oh well back to Tennis :((!!!!

    9. Terrible decision. I would have at least expected a grid penalty for that blatant and dangerous move – he ran Massa into the wall, after all. In an ideal world he would have been told not to bother turning up in Valencia.

      1. Not to mention he did two moves to defend his line.

        1. I thought so too at first, but as far as I understand it, you can make one defensive move AND make one move to return to the racing line before the corner. To be fair, that’s what he did.

          1. Yes, that is also how I got it, esp. after watching the race a second time from the local channel instead of BBC (via dvr).

            I think today Brundle did show his dislike of MSC; my local commento is a bit of a MSC fan, but the contrast made the BBC comments seem a bit too much biased. I think Massa was too impatient, and forgot about China where he got away a bit better from a similar incident. MSC was quite aggressive, but this was a racing indicent, IMO.

            I actually think MSC was too aggressive for his tires for most of the race, but he screwed himself with that, so punishment received in the end anyway.

      2. Masa ran himself into the wall.

    10. Kubica said after the race: “I was on the right, so I backed off and pulled behind him to take my line for the pits, but he braked very early and hard: I had to go round him to avoid causing an accident.”

      1. Maybe he should have put on a hand indicating to Sutil he would be going to the pits then. He could also have just backed of a bit more, or just not backed off at all and been well ahead of Sutil.

    11. Learned a new word this year.. REPRIMAND!!!

    12. As Brundle said after the race “If he had been a rookie coming to new to F1 we would have been saying he’s not ready for F1 yet.” Now there’s a damning crit.

      1. What does Martin know,he never was any good himeself as a racer.

        1. Couldn’t agree more Dianna. Sadly, Brundle commentates about as well as he used to drive. Wildly inconsistent depending on whether he likes the driver or not.

          1. MouseNightshirt
            14th June 2010, 2:31

            Brundle was a half-decent driver. And his skill as a racer is completely unrelated to his observations as a pundit, who happens to be recognised as one of the best in the business…

            1. In general he is very good, but he is easily led to be biased against MSC, I think, and yesterday it did show a bit too much. But it is so clear that it is not much of a problem (you just take his comments about MSC with a bit more salt), and not enough (for me) to get really annoyed about it.

    13. Some awful stewarding in this race, the drivers are only going to get more and more out of control. Reprimands have been given for weaving, an yet Hulkenburg got clean away with it. Schumacher ran Kubica clear off the track an chopped Massa the hell up and got away with it. Kubica seems to have been reprimanded for something that Sutil did.

      I think it’s great that the stewards are allowing racing to be more free, an being less draconian in their punishments but really, line in the sand. It can’t go on because it will eventually turn nasty. What we want from the stewards is consitancy and clearly applied rules, obviously we don’t want a return to the blatant stupidity of 08 but we don’t want something to go wrong because the drivers are being to reckless.

      Nor do we want in to swing back the other way an the random 20sec penalty hammer to return. Grid Drops please.

      1. About schumacher: I now saw the race twice, once live with BBC (no commercials!) and once the dvr’d version from the local commercial channel. The first time I was thinking “Ugh, Schumi at it again”, but looking at it a second time, with mamual rewinding, I have to say that it was not that clear cut. Perhaps also helped by commentator actually enjoying the zest of the old fox (but he always was a bit of a fan, I think).

        Anyway, Kubica also could have known, after having been put on the grass, that MSC was not backing off, and the way he kept his line while being about next to MSC, it was clear to both that they would not fit through the chicane, and at least one would not make the corner. He could have backed down. Did not have to, but took the risk. In the end, it did not harm him much.

        With Massa, seeing the last 10 laps leading on to that for the 2nd time, it was rather clear that, similar to problems in the China race, MSC had run out of working tire and was struggling to keep pace. As David A says above, they had been running on softs for quite a bit too many laps, in a car that seems (at the least with MSC) rather hard on them.

        1. SennaProstMansell
          14th June 2010, 0:30

          that is right, schumachers tyres were completely gone, he ran on them as long as others on the hard ones. also, they couldn’t change back because they had no unused set of tyres left for him.

    14. I’m amazed that Hulkenburg didn’t even get a reprimand.

    15. Michael Schumacher drove amazingly bad this weekend. He drove even worse than we got used to this year.

      1. I think that was probably out of desperation, most likely because he looked so good in practice and thought he had a shot, then when it came to qualifying and race it really turned out he wasn’t competitive, hence the desperate driving. In contrast Hamilton, who has a tendency to drive a bit on the edge, appeared cool, calm, and completely smooth all through the race, including each of his passes. All executed beautifully. Hats off to him.

        1. Did Schumacher damage the ground effects during the Kubica battle. His pace seemed pretty strong before that. Seemed to me that his problems were more than just worn tires. Should’ve been penalised for the Massa incident.

    16. Once again, I’d like to complain about the ambiguity of the “reprimand.” With no clear indication that multiple reprimands results in ANYTHING AT ALL, they really mean nothing, nada, zilch.

      1. SennaProstMansell
        14th June 2010, 0:36

        That is exactly what I was thinking when i read the article. Once again reprimands and for what?!

      2. Yes, people like yourself peter have been saying it for a while.

        Say a driver was to get a reprimand every race, should he be penalized at some point?

        What about a couple of reprimands for the same type of incident, in consecutive races? What if there was gap between the races?

        There are many possibilities, and whilst it is good to have some discretion, it either seems that it is one extreme or another. Perhaps some clarification on any black and white limits, or perhaps a general philosophy that they are working to would be a good idea.

    17. SennaProstMansell
      14th June 2010, 0:27

      Not that I really want that, but: everyone always wants racing to be like it was among Senna, Mansell etc. I kind of get the feeling that its just 20 year olds who heard that racing back then was good. The way Schumacher defended today was the way someone defended back then, when he had a ‘everyone pass me easily’ day. It was rather common that drivers were pushed on the grass or scared to be pushed into the wall if they don’t back up.

      Either people want oldschool racing, or not.

      1. I’ve certainly watched the late 80’s early 90’s races several times, and never once did I see any of the desperate, last second, idiotic moves that Schumacher has consistantly done throughout his pathetic career, and shown in Canada again.

        The vast majority of racing was clean and hard (Silverstone ’90, Mexico ’90 for instance). The rare, dirty moves were results of premeditated, carefully thought out plans.

      2. Oldschool please. F1 is not a popularity contest.

    18. We certainly saw the OLD Schumacher today who don’t give any piece of track to anybody.That’s OK until & unless you hit somebody with your car which he did for quite a lot with Massa, Liuzzi. This was the worst performance by him so far this season he was doing some good wheel to wheel racing but came out with nothing.

    19. It’s ironic that after the impassioned defenses of the rule of law in Formula One against Hamilton the barbarian for pulling off the track after Q3 to save a fuel sample, we see a siege of treachery in the race, with the long-knife wielded with most gusto by Michael Schumacher. How many passes did we see into turn 3 without one guy running the other straight off the road? How many times did he cut the chicane to defend his position? It’s too obvious that after seeing Schumacher, Massa, and Kubica turn the race into Ultimate Fighting with cars, people have to sniff about Hamilton and Alonso racing down pit lane, fairly and closely.

      Races like this, and China, should show the legions of Schumacher fans who think he walks on water to ask how much of his success came when he had the very best car. Because history, and the present, shows that when he does not, and when surrounded by a full field of very quick guys, and when he has a teammate who is not an official footstool, he don’t look so sharp at all.

      I have to raise a toast to Sutil, showing some major attachments, and putting it to the old man on the last lap, carbon-fiber flying, and getting the spot. That was the only just end to Schmacher’s rampage today.

      1. “I have to raise a toast to Sutil, showing some major attachments, and putting it to the old man on the last lap, carbon-fiber flying, and getting the spot. ”

        So… it is ok for Sutil but not for Schumacher?

      2. To answer DaveW – Michael had the very best car because HE made that car,designed and engineered from scratch with the Ferrari engineers,and that took a few years.It is so easy to forget that Ferrari were out in the cold before the Schumacher years.

        1. It’s also easy to forget Ferrari effectively bought the championship winning Benetton team, poaching most of their top staff.

          They also had the largest budget (until Toyota turned up) so really they were just massively underperforming before Brawn whipped them into shape.

    20. It was great wheel to wheel racing with tyre wars to boot which is what everyone asked for. So why does everyone want stewards to start throwing penalties and reprimands around. Schumacher drove hard and aggressive Hamilton and Alonso battling for position side by side out the pits, backmarkers making a difference to the overtaking moves of the leaders…isn’t that part of the spectacle that people paid to watch…..If you want good “clean” racing watch re-runs of the Bahrain procession.

      1. I believe that despite a lot of “incidental” driving, that it part of what made Canada one of the best races this season.

    21. IMHO, Brundle sounded like a man who had an axe to grind today

    22. Defending is one thing, driving people off the road is another…

      Kubica. He was alongside when Schuie pushed him off (much like he did to Alonso at Silverstone a few years ago). Out of order when the other car is alongside (as Webber will agree). The move or we crash mentality is just wrong no matter how you paint it.
      * Penalty

      Liuzzi. I don’t have a problem in this instance – he stayed alongside but there was room for Liuzzi. The fact that he slid into the side of Schuie was just a racing incident. I’m sure he didn’t intend it but it happened.
      * No Penalty

      Massa. Bad driving from One-Move-Michael although I have to say Massa was a tiny bit naive. Michael is king of the swerves and the move really wasn’t on even if he’d stayed alongside, so a bit of self preservation and getting a better exit would have been the smart thing to do. Still, two moves on the straight (especially moving in the braking zone) is frowned upon for other drivers
      * Penalty.

      I would add though that I think the infractions were marginal – if he’d left a little more room, there wouldn’t have been a problem and he probably still wouldn’t have lost the places either. The were certainly not the blatent moves of his Red days.

    23. his tyres really were gone..Massa was able to keep up with him easily in that one lap that he went around on with a broken front wing

    24. I think the steward’s decisions regarding Schumacher and Kubica were right, but I can’t remember the Alguersuari and Barrichello incident.

      One thing that I was a bit surprised about was that cutting the final chicane whilst defending a position didn’t cause the driver to yield position. Hulkenberg did it when racing with a Force India, Schumacher did it when defending against Luizzi and although I don’t think any footage was transmitted the BBC commentators said that from their where they were they saw Alonso also cut the chicane when defending against Hamilton.

    25. Schumacher – bad rep but gets the position. Schumacher wins. It went in his favour and I doubt it’ll matter to him what people thought of it.

      I have to say I’m appalled though. For me, things have now gone too far the other way. There have been 3 incidents this year (that I have counted) when a driver turns in on someone and it is ok. Twice with Vettel and now this. There was a wall there, what more could Massa do?

      It’s alright saying we wanted wheel-to-wheel racing but a move that dangerous is, I;m sorry, completely unacceptable. I want exciting, clsoe racing but these are the best drivers in the world and they should know how to do it instead of punting someone off.

      No favouritism just a plain bad decision.

      1. “what more could masa do”

        Well, he could realize that shumacher had just awful tyres, and would hence be braking earlier than him. Schu covered the inside, then went wide to take the corner. He left masa enough room, he did not punt him into the wall, nor did he chop him off.

        1. I don’t get the brake testing him excuse that’s been going around as for me that wasn’t the issue it was that Massa nearly ended up in the wall. I’ll have to watch a replay and I’m all for defenmding the position (correct me if I’m wrong) but it seemed far too aggressive and Massa ending up nearly in the wall avoiding him. If I am wrong I’ll happily take all of that back though it’s just what I thought I saw at the time and I was on the live blog so I dopn’t always take everything in as much :P

          1. Haha, no worries steph, we can’t all agree all the time otherwise there would not be much to discuss. I to, will take it back if i am wrong, although at this stage we agree to disagree – plus it was massa so we all know your passion there :)

    26. I would like to know what would happen if Algersuari or Petrov put Alonso or Schumacher on the wall and later cuts a chicane while fighting for 9th place.
      Schumacher’s race was plainly ridiculous.

    27. Scummy got what he deserved out of that race – nothing. As for the Massa incident, he moved left, and then moved left again, and I think it should have been penalised. Then again, maybe the stewards thought Massa deserved nothing better, after driving into Liuzzi about four times in the first couple of corners.

      1. No. Liuzzi started the first corner incident by diving into a gap that simply wasn’t there, having been beaten handsomely off the start line. Massa finished it.

        1. No. There was enough of a gap that any of them would have dived into it. Then Massa drove like he was on the dodgems.

          1. Liuzzi hit Massa as he was alongside Button. The Force India should have yielded the position rather than dive in and cause the contact.

          2. After being hit by Liuzzi and before being sent to the wall by Schumacher, Massa was consistently among the fastest drivers on the track, going from last to 10th.

    28. What? So everyone who tangles with Old Schuey gets a penalty? Am I reading this correctly? :-)

    29. OK here’s my 2p.

      Firstly, none of the individual incidents by Schumacher deserved any action. Any one taken individually, IMHO, was just a racing incident. Saying that, there were 3 such incidents through the race, each *just* not deserving of a reprimand, and I think that qualifies for a reprimand. It was consistently over-aggressive driving which caused dangerous situations to arise.

      Secondly, to all those who justify his actions later by saying “his tyres were shot”… that is no justification. If, as has been suggested, he was out of new tyres, and none of the old ones were any better, then he was driving an unsafe car and should have retired. The fact that he stayed out and endangered other racers was perfectly in character for Schui. He doesn’t give a damn about what happens to anyone else on the track, and is the least sportsman-like driver I have ever seen.

      1. I don’t think he did himself any favours by staying out,he should have retired….but that is not his way.

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