Schumacher reprimanded for block

October 23, 2010 at 8:33 am by Keith Collantine

An unhappy Rubens Barrichello said he was lucky to make it into Q3 after being held up by Michael Schumacher in the second part of qualifying:

I don’t want it to become personal. We’ve had some problems in the past and we’re having problems in some situations such as Hungary.

I’m a down-to-earth guy, I’m a very cool guy which means I have a lot of respect even for the slowest cars and to the quckest ones.

We all make mistakes and we are allowed to make a mistake and apologise. He just came to apologise, in a way, that the team didn’t tell him.

But I was on a fast lap, he has mirrors and you cannot blame everything on the team. I’m a little bit sad about the situation because I was only lucky that I passed on to qually three because he really slowed me down.
Rubens Barrichello

Footage from qualifying shows Barrichello spent several corner stuck behind Schumacher and had to abort his attempt at the lap. The Williams driver ended Q2 in tenth.

Update: The stewards reprimanded Schumacher for blocking Barrichello but did not impose any further penalty.

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68 comments on Schumacher reprimanded for block

Red Andy (@red-andy) said on 23rd October 2010, 19:18

I’ve never really liked the idea of handing out penalties for “blocking.” For me, it should be the responsibility of the person behind to find enough space for a clear run. Usually when a penalty is given, it is just because the person being penalised happens to have a slower car than the one behind him.

But it has to be said, Schumacher has been pushing the bounds of acceptability with his driving a lot this year. Clearly the penalties he has received haven’t been successful in bringing him down a peg or two…so what to do?

- Dizzy-A (@david-a) said on 23rd October 2010, 20:32
  
  What to do…I say not punish him for costing Barrichello nothing, when it’s his responsibility to find enough space anyway.
  
- John H said on 23rd October 2010, 22:13
  
  Well, not really. Unless you have a delta minimum time in qualifying. Otherwise, you can back up a rival intentionally by slowing down.
  
  There’s nothing wrong with how things are at the moment. They just need one rule and one consequence alone if someone on a flyer is blocked by a car on an out/in lap. Simple.
  
  - Mike said on 24th October 2010, 3:12
    
    It’s not simple… For your example to work, you must clearly define what a block actually is.
    
- John H said on 23rd October 2010, 22:14
  
  “Usually when a penalty is given, it is just because the person being penalised happens to have a slower car than the one behind him.”
  
  That’s just not the case. It’s always either shown to be an out or in lap by the blocker, and a flyer for the blockee.
  
  - John H said on 23rd October 2010, 22:16
    
    For instance, remember the McLarens on the racing line in Sepang 2008? Is that just ok then because the other guys ‘didn’t find enough space.’
    
    I’m sorry, but a penalty is the only way to handle this.
    
    - Journeyer (@journeyer) said on 24th October 2010, 1:52
      
      That was in Q3, though, and that directly affected their grid spots. So a penalty was definitely needed there.
      
      As things stand, it was in Q2, and it didn’t affect Rubens’ Q3 run in any significant way. So no penalty.
      
South African Fan said on 25th October 2010, 9:09

When somebody says “I am going to be honest” you know they are gonna bulls**t you…..have a lsiten WHENEVER Rubens gets interviewed, if I had a horsepower for every time RB says *To be honest” I would be faster than a Mercedes …..
He was four tenths down in the first sector so maybe MS’s team did not deem it necessary to tell him to move over…? However, ignoring blue flags, not a smart thing to do…