Todt wants to restore FIA’s power over F1

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In the round-up: FIA president Jean Todt is eager to see the F1’s governing body take more control over the sport.

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Comment of the day

Are the stewards too trigger-happy when it comes to issuing penalties? @Drmouse thinks not:

The Nasr/Ericsson move had to be punished. It was downright dangerous, wild, and amateurish. There was no way through, and could have caused serious injury to one of them.

The same with, for example, Raikkonen crossing the pit entry line. The rule is there for safety reasons, he knew the rule, and just ignored it to get an advantage. However, had the car in front braked earlier or harder (as drivers tend to do on pit entry), it could have resulted in a serious accident.

The FIA have been quite good, in my view, this season at leaving racing incidents without penalty. But it’s only right that any serious contact, or any breach of the rules, is investigated to determine whether a penalty is deserved.
@Drmouse

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On this day in F1

Michael Schumacher won the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring 15 years ago today ahead of Juan Pabo Montoya’ Williams and David Coulthard’s McLaren.

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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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24 comments on “Todt wants to restore FIA’s power over F1”

  1. Oh Toyota…

    One year you will finally win that race.

    Anyway, that car was too dull/boring a paint job to be Toyota’s Le Mans winner!

    1. I said the same thing about their f1 efforts in 2005…

    2. All things considered, Toyota almost snuck in the victory, there’s very little chance they are getting any better opportunity than this one. Audi/Porsche race 2 teams with completely opposite strategies, on a normal fortnight, they’ll be ready to win in any weather condition.

  2. “Interlagos insists Brazilian GP safe, seeking extension (Crash)”

    … hence why Mr Ecclestone has been trash talking them in the media to strengthen his bargaining position.

    It’s becoming a predictable occurance now everytime an organiser has to renegotiate.

  3. Dear Jean Todt….that’s rubbish

    1. Not really. The principle is sound – the regulating body should have the power to regulate. But sadly, Todt handed over the power to Bernie and the teams in return for a nice stash of FOM cash for the FIA used to finance his campaign for secont term as FIA president.

      1. @bascb I hope he was talking about F1 and Le Mans clashing :P

        1. but it is pretty much the same thing – the FIA has settled for letting Bernie do as he pleases with the calendar @fer-no65!

      2. Exactly. He took the money and lost the power.

        Todt appears to suffer from either acute medium-term memory loss or selective hypocrisy disorder. Not uncommon ailments in F1 power circles tho.

      3. In all fairness Todt was running Ferrari at the time the FIA traded money over power with FOM. @bascb

        1. You must have mistaken the original sale of the “commercial rights” by Mosley with the infamous 100 year deal for what I was referring to @x303 – It was Todt who signed the control over the rules (installing the Strategic group) to FOM/the big teams in return for the FIA getting the right to buy a stake in FOM for a low price and a sum of money which he used to support his standing (it proved that he did something for the FIA, and probably helped fund spots for allies) in preperation of getting himself elected for a second term.

          1. Oh, then I was mistaken as you rightly pointed out @bascb .

  4. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    24th June 2016, 1:07

    100% agree with COTD. There are rules in F1 for a reason, enforce them! Otherwise, what’s the point of having a rule book if they’re never enforced properly? Track limits should be at the forefront of this. The amount of track limit abuse in F1 is astonishing, and they’re always getting away with it.

    1. @tophercheese21 his comment was a response to mine, where I pointed out that some moves, particularly those where two drivers touched each other, were penalized and investigated way too often and should be left alone. To clarify, I wasn’t pointing out things like track limits.

      Over the years, we’ve seen way too many penalties because two drivers touched and one of them was instantly penalized with grid positions or points in their license. I find that excessive most of the times, racing incidents are bound to happen at every race, and we don’t need grid penalties because of them every time.

      1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
        24th June 2016, 4:05

        I’m more than happy to have racing incidents left as such provided there have been no clear breaches in the rule book, but my comment on track limits is purely because it’s far more absolute than racing incidents where there can be some subjective opinion that influences the decision.

      2. Firstly, thank you @keithcollantine for the COTD.

        @fer-no64 @tophercheese21

        his comment was a response to mine, where I pointed out that some moves, particularly those where two drivers touched each other, were penalized and investigated way too often and should be left alone.

        Yep. My only disagreement with this is that they should be investigated. An investigation shouldn’t, and doesn’t, always result in a penalty. However, if 2 drivers crash, the stewards should investigate to determine if a penalty is warranted. As I said, though, I think they have been getting better at leaving true racing incidents alone, encouraging on track action but discouraging outright dangerous behaviour.

        As for track limits, I have stated before that I believe these should be more strictly enforced. My own view is that a driver should be penalised for leaving the race track unless they were naturally penalised in an obvious way*, not only if they gained an advantage.

        * By this I mean they crashed, they lost places, they were visibly slower to the average fan without access to timing data, or something similar.

  5. Keith crossley
    24th June 2016, 2:35

    Oh Daniel – you were cold at Montreal? Try being in the stands!

    That said, the entire Grandstand 33 (turns 6, 7) appreciated your fist-pumping enthusiasm during the drivers’ parade!

  6. If Ricciardo had braked earlier….then Kimi wouldn’t have crossed the pit line in going around him, so, uh, what?

    1. Kimi might have punted Ric into an accident, t-boning a concrete barrier with his head, thats the worst case scenario….

  7. “FIA should take greater role in F1 governance, says Jean Todt ”
    Oh goody. Another power struggle to determine who has the right to make even more rules.

  8. Maybe Brands Hatch can have the European Grand Prix back now we’re as eligible as Azerbaijan.

    1. the skwirrell
      25th June 2016, 6:49

      more so in fact as Britain is part of geographical Europe

  9. Regarding Kimi’s penalty for crossing the pit entry line, I think its important to go back & look at the reasons for the lines on pit entry & why they aren’t keen on drivers doing what Kimi did. That been Ricardo Patrese’s accident at Esoril in 1992:
    https://youtu.be/pMoi1sDgN0Y?t=28s

    All it takes is for the car infront to brake earlier than expected or for the car behind to miscalculate & you end up with something like that happening. Its the same with the pit exit line, Its there to stop cars rejoining straight onto the racing line into the path of cars going at full speed.

    It may seem like a silly penalty given how nothing happened, But the rules are there & the drivers should know them & regardless of how minor an infraction it seems if a rule is broken then whatever penalty is linked to that infraction has to be applied.

    1. petebaldwin (@)
      24th June 2016, 16:34

      Before the race, Vettel said “The pit entry looks a challenge but then again I think that’s why we’re here. I certainly have the plan to stay on-track and not use the run-off.”

      Alonso also mentioned it.

      https://www.racefans.net/2016/06/16/baku-track-may-need-changes-alonso/

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