F1 Fanatic

I think all teams would have raced at every race last year even with the 107% rule. First GP they would have allowed them all as it was the first. Monaco is different for everyone, and HRT might have brought 2 new chassis if they would have feared that rule. Other races it was about breakdowns or weather.

But that is not the point. In a system where the teams get money based on taking part in the race, not allowing them in after first having them haul their equipment all over the globe is just nonsense.
And then their only way of improving is by actually running the car. With testing not allowed, not making the first race they might as quit the sport. As RedAndy says, it would never be about safety, as the worst for that is already over before these teams would get excluded.

@AndrewTanner: Actually, sport punishes almost everyone for not being good enough, they lose. Also, in sports that cost serious money, the team may go bankrupt or be forcibly sold (which has effectively happened many times in sports within the US and happens ALL THE TIME in motor racing at all levels).

Regardless, per the 107% rule and using testing times (while I know it doesn’t count per se, its the only measure that we have of the cars right now), if D’Ambrosio can’t put up times better than he did during the first two days of the current test (1:28.982), he will fall behind the 107% time (1:27.596) fairly often.

I don’t necessarily view the 107% rule as bad, it just depends on what the reasons are for the slow lap time. If there are mechanical problems with the car (KERS, engine mapping, etc.) or damage that should be fixed by race time, I don’t think that the team should necessarily be punished. I would even be ok with giving them a 20 minutes session first thing Sunday morning to set a time that was within the 107% time so that they could start from the garage. However, if the reason is that the driver just sucks or the car just sucks and they are effectively a moving chicane, then I don’t feel that they should be on course durign the race.