Charles Pic has been handed his second reprimand of the year for passing a red light during the second practice session.
The Caterham driver drove past the light which was being used to direct him to the weigh bridge.
The stewards rules Pic “failed to proceed to the FIA garage for weighing when signalled to do so”.
“He admitted having seen the red light and that the official pointed to him. However he claimed that he believed the light was for the car behind him.”
Pic’s reprimand is his second of the year, meaning if he collects another before the end of the season he will receive a ten-place grid penalty.
He was previously reprimanded for rejoining the track in an unsafe fashion during second practice at the Belgian Grand Prix.
2013 Korean Grand Prix
Image © Caterham/LAT
Bounzze (@bounzze)
4th October 2013, 10:35
Shouldn’t there be a fine attached to the 3rd reprimand? It’s not like being set back 10 places makes a lot of difference in the race for someone like Pic…
sumedh
4th October 2013, 10:40
The GPDA (of which Webber is a past director) decided there will be no more monetary penalties last year when the super-license fee was increased significantly.
Hence, why Webber couldn’t get out of the 10-place penalty by paying a monetary fine.
Tomsk (@tomsk)
4th October 2013, 12:36
Not the best excuse ever – “I thought it was for the car behind”!
Maybe they should make drivers start the race from the pitlane, and hold them at a red light for a few seconds, if they receive a grid penalty that’s longer than the grid. In theory, people could get away with some crazy and dangerous stuff.
maarten.f1 (@)
4th October 2013, 13:18
Or maybe they should change the system and flash a car number instead or a red light (or maybe both). It could very well have been for the car behind him, who knows (and no, it’s not an excuse to let him off). But by adding the car number, there can be no confusion about it anymore.
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
4th October 2013, 18:58
They wouldn’t have time to display a number as what car is selected to go into inspection is not pre-determined & not run off a computer, Its just an official next to a light at pit-entry.
minnis (@minnis)
4th October 2013, 16:30
Or even make drivers move down 10 places in total, even if it’s carried over to the next race. So say, for example, Webber goes out in Q1, in 18th. He then moves four places down this race, meaning that next race he still carries a 6 place grid penalty. Then even backmarkers will have more of a punishment.
OOliver
4th October 2013, 12:48
Why can’t the stewards simply hold the car number the want weighed since they know that in advance. A portable electronics display, such as is used in football will be easy enough to carry to all the races, and eliminate confusion.
Someone pointing, when you have a queue of cars, can be confusing.
Furthermore, they should avoid doing the weightbridge thing during qualifying.
maarten.f1 (@)
4th October 2013, 13:25
Completely agree with that. It always seems to be an unfair disadvantage if cars need to be weighed because they have less time to set a time. Maybe for the teams up front it’s less of an impact, but for the usual suspects that drop out in Q1 it can make a difference.
Bleu (@bleu)
4th October 2013, 14:11
I’m not completely certain it happens that way. Having seen four GPs live, I was once watching it at the grandstands with straight view to weightbridge. It was 17 years ago I admit, but I saw some cars taken to weightbridge two times. So they might also have it something like “let’s take third car that comes into the pits to weightbridge.”
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
4th October 2013, 16:07
This all seems a bit knee-jerk to me.
The rules don’t need changing because Pic came up with a dubious excuse for failing to acknowledge that a red light means stop, which as rules go is about as fundamental as it gets for a racing driver.
And “they should avoid doing the weightbridge thing during qualifying”? Definitely not – teams will take a chance at running underweight chance if they believe there’s a realistic chance of getting away with it. Charlie Whiting will certainly know this having worked at Brabham in the early eighties…