Webber joins Rosberg and Grosjean with grid penalty

2012 German Grand Prix

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Mark Webber is the latest driver to receive a five-place penalty on the grid for the German Grand Prix.

Webber will lose five places due to a gearbox change on his Red Bull.

He joins Nico Rosberg and Romain Grosjean, who will also receive penalties for the same thing.

2012 German 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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47 comments on “Webber joins Rosberg and Grosjean with grid penalty”

  1. Off to change my pole prediction then :-(

    1. Don’t do it yet. If Alonso and Vettel get penalites as well Webber could still be on Pole.

    2. pffftt, prediction comps. We have 3 quality drivers demoted due to silly rules & that is your concern… Almost every race this happens. We have all been robbed this weekend but I really feel for fans that forked out a lot of coin to go to the German G.P. who will be doubly robbed of the spectacle they should have received. Even if I was Alonso I wouldn’t want to gain an advantage over Webber in such a way.

      1. Do you really think any driver is going to drive slower because a few of them have grid penalties?

        What is your solution if not a “silly” grid penalty? A points penalty? A time penalty?

        1. 20 races; 5 gearboxes. On the 6th gearbox penalties apply. Enough said.

  2. That’s getting ridicolous! The other day people were talking about about gearbox penalties affecting championship leaders, and here you go! Keith should include ‘who’s next to get gearbox penalty’ into predictions championship.

    1. The other day people were talking about about gearbox penalties affecting championship leaders, and here you go!

      So because a driver is a championship contender, he should be exempt from grid penalties?

      Given how competitive the season has been to date, it’s unlikely that the penalties will have much effect.

    2. The question we and the teams need to ask is “What is different this year, why so many gearbox failures?” I’m guessing it’s a cooling issue due to tight packaging but it could be new smaller g’boxes. @scarbs?

  3. No one really had Webber winning the championship though, right?

    1. Just me. Lonely old me.

    2. And me! Still plenty of points available to do it, too.

    3. Drop Valencia!
      21st July 2012, 11:18

      me too, on the off chance his starts are good.

    4. Looking at the current standings he more of a chance than 21 other drivers

  4. there goes his championship

    1. lol as if webber ever would win a championship…joke of the month

      1. Not remember 2010? He was in contention right until the end.

        1. He was leading before the last race.

        2. Because Vettel lost so many points to mechanical failures and rookie mistakes. Vettel might still suffer the same amount of failures but I doubt he’ll make the mistakes he made back then. Webber is lucky the car suits his style completely and Vettel’s a bit less. That could perhaps give him a fighting chance although Valencia and Bahrein did not bode well for the Australian.

    2. They(Red Bull) gives this race to Vettel… In exchange of Brazil, last year.

  5. I thought penalties do not affect pole positions in the predictions. The position before the penalty is handed out is what counts. I’m confused…

    1. Nope. Its who starts the race from pole on Sunday. At Barcelona, I had Hamilton for pole, but I don’t think anyone guessed it was Maldonado. I certainly got no points.

  6. 2nd place in the championship takes a grid penalty, Alonso… y u so spawny!

    ;-P

  7. this just confirms my thoughts about this stupid penalty

  8. What we need is a “If the pole sitter gets a penalty after the prediction is made, who will get pole position?” clause…

  9. East Londoner
    21st July 2012, 10:23

    Why should the driver be punished for a part of his car needing to be replaced? 8, nearly 9 years of this arbitary rubbish and I’ve had enough of it.

    1. Why should the driver be punished for a part of his car needing to be replaced?

      Because the penalty doesn’t just affect the driver – it affects the whole team. The teams were the ones who broke the rules by replacing the gearbox, even if doing so it meant guaranteeing that they would be able to finish the race. If the problem is a faulty part, then perhaps the teams should be bulding better gearboxes.

      1. I wouldn’t say they broke the rules. They’re playing by them. Replacing the gearbox and then not telling anyone to try and avoid a grid drop would be breaking the rules.

        I basically agree with you though. Whether others like it or not gearbox durability is part of the competition at the moment. A driver plays a role in making the gearbox last the same as they do making the tyres last.

      2. I agree… and it just goes to show that SF really knows how to build a “tank”…. Thank God they haven´t been hit with these problems!

  10. I’m fed up with penalties now. It came to my mind first in Monaco, then in Britain. MS getting a grid penalty for doing something somewhere not in Monaco… Then Britain. Hülkenberg had a chance to qualify eg. 4th but he had a 5-place penalty for a gearbox change. Fantastic. Every race someone suffers from something which either not happened at the actual weekend or a mechanical failure. Gearboxes should be handled just like engines. X/season.
    They should perhaps introduce a penalty points system and punish drivers after a certain number of penalty points. Causing an accident X points. Gearbox change Y points. Z points results in an exclusion from the next GP.(or exclusion from the next Quali=starting from pit)

    1. davidnotcoulthard
      21st July 2012, 10:54

      If so last year Liuzzi would’ve probably got <0 points!

    2. Calum (@edwardcj95f1)
      21st July 2012, 11:02

      I like that, that would actually show some common sense from the fia

    3. In theory it could maybe work however penalty points systems have somewhat ruined other sports & everyone will argue on the weightings applied to each incident. It is an overdose in rules that got us here in the first place & more rules just leads to more headaches. Imagine two drivers having a similar accident and one driver gets 10 demerit points & the other 20. Let the championship be decided on the track, not at a tribunal hearing of suits.

  11. By my estimation, there have been nine drivers who have been given gearbox penalties, and eleven separate instances of gearbox penalties being issued this year. Under the pre-2012 rules, which allowed the teams and drivers one free gearbox change without penalty during the season, only Pastor Maldonado would have been given a penalty, as he is the only driver to have changed his gearbox more than once in the season. His joker would have been used in Bahrain, and he would have taken his penalties in Monaco and Canada.

  12. davidnotcoulthard
    21st July 2012, 10:42

    Next up……Fernando!

    Then we might have a Vettel-Massa 1-2!

    With Jenson in 3rd…or Lewis.

  13. why is it always Webber and never Vettel?

    1. Ah, uhm, do you remember how Vettel retired in Valencia?

      1. davidnotcoulthard
        21st July 2012, 10:57

        Korea and Bahrain 2010?

    2. Well, Webber have suffered numerous glitches in FPs last couple of year(this year too) but the one who usually suffer in the races is Vettel.

  14. 3 drivers in one race! Am I only one there’re too many gearbox changes this year?

    1. It’s a symptom of a close competition. The teams are pushing the limits of component design to try and get an edge, and have just pushed a little too far here.

      Actually they don’t lose as much pushing a little harder on the gearbox than they would on other components. Go too far with a gearbox, and it’s hmm we’ll have to change that early and take a grid drop. Go too far with a shock absorber and it’s oh no he won’t finish the race!

  15. This would have to be one of the most ridiculous rules in F1 today. Oh I feel like violently shaking the pee heads that sit around and think up such stupid rules. Logic would say, cap it like the engines & ditch this crud.

    1. So you get your grid penalties at the end of the season rather than in the middle. Why is that any better?

      1. Maybe Webber wouldn’t get a grid penalty at all. If this was to be the only non routine change for the year then this would mean he would have to nurse his GB’s a little more than the rest of the pack as each remaining GB would have to do a little more mileage.

    2. The engine rules were like this for a few years before the realised it was just plain stupid.
      Why not just limit the number of gearboxes and then mix and match.

  16. sid_prasher (@)
    21st July 2012, 11:22

    Bah!! This rule is really annoying…I was just wondering if there has been a spec change for the gear boxes this year – why are so many of them failing? I don’t remember seeing so many gearbox changes last year.

  17. Any bets on who’s getting a grid drop for gearbox next?

  18. I really hope that Webber Grosjean and Rosberg finish 1-2-3 in this qualifying, give their customary post-quali conference, and then all get demoted back just for everyone to realise that the gearbox penalties are a farce.

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