They weren't even singled out, the whole top 10 were tested. Not only did they fail the test, they appear to have a mechanical device to help them do it. It makes you really lose faith in Red Bull. How many races have they had this device? What others are on the car that they reckon nobody would notice? Here's Jo Bauer (FIA Technical Delegate)'s report. All of the top 10 underwent the same, highly detailed investigation under qualifying, and only Red Bull failed anything.
I'd dearly love them to get excluded from the constructor's championship because of this, therefore promoting Marussia and Caterham in the standings and making them entitled to prize money. I think Horner would explode.
What a shame. Ricciardo has been such a breath if fresh air this year, what a shame that the conduct of the team taints what the drivers have achieved.
Out of interest, how does this RBR situation compare to when BAR Honda were banned for 2 races due to that fuel irregularity in 2005? Surely the intent was the same...Ignore the rules to gain a performance advantage?
I'd argue this instance is worse. I could kind of see the point Honda were making, but can't find any way to justify this. To take some quotes from the 2005 incident: Max Mosley: "Under the circumstances, we feel they have been treated rather leniently." Maurice Hamilton: "What they are saying is that they cannot prove there was a deliberate attempt to cheat but neither did the team prove to the scrutineers and the FIA that the car remained above the 600kg weight limit through the entire race. On that basis the penalty is about right because if they had been found guilty of deliberately cheating they would definitely have been excluded from the entire 2005 World Championship." Surely this is deliberate cheating? Annoyed with the BBC, they've just reported the story in their pre-show, but gave the bare details and brushed over it to focus on the Hamilton-Rosberg show.
My son woke me up this morning and left a Hot Wheels formula one car in the bed. Looks nothing like a Merc (or any real F1 car really) but the driver had a white helmet. The child prognosticators have spoken.
Just had him on over here saying something like "it's odd how they just singled out the front wing". What else do you have Jack?
Imagine if DC had done the orange shirt and the orange trousers yesterday. That would have been memorable.
If I go hide in a corner... will one of you fine gentlemen come get me when this is all done and dusted?
