I think in the current rules Nico/Merc should be punished as it is telling him how to fix an issue. Though I think it's stupid that it's against the rules. I agree they shouldn't be telling a driver how to drive the car on the circuit as in where to coast or where to hit an apex etc. I think engine issues etc should be fine to talk about, it's getting out of hand.
Ruins the world championship imo. Hamilton has it half won already but at least it was interesting. Let's just open the rule book at the British gp and make sure though.... everything that might have made it a race was prevented today. Will not be shocked if lead changes hands by whining about radios now. Basically ruined the spectacle from start to end for me.... **** sake tooling along on medium tyres after inters. A British gp for tyre management not an f1 race
Adding to the radio debate. Remember last week when Force India said they were not allowed to tell Perez that his brakes were iffy only for him to have a brake failure and crash into the barriers.... Under current rules the info Nico received seem to not be allowed.
Found this on Autosport but it was Jun 2015. The following is a list of the permitted messages for 2016, with anything else regarded as a breach of article 20.1: 1. Indication of a critical problem with the car, e.g. puncture warning or damage.* 2. Indication of a problem with a competitor's car.* 3. Instruction to enter the pitlane in order to fix or retire the car.* 4. Marshalling information (yellow flag, red flag, race start aborted or other similar instructions or information from race control).* 5. Wet track, oil or debris in certain corners.* 6. Instructions to swap position with other drivers.* * indicates these are the only messages that may be passed to the driver whilst he is in the car and on the track, from the time the car leaves the garage for the first time after the pit lane is open on the day of the race until the start of the race. 7. Acknowledgement that a driver message has been heard. 8. Lap or sector time detail. 9. Lap time detail of a competitor. 10. Gaps to a competitor during a practice session or race. 11. "Push hard", "push now", "you will be racing xx" or similar. 12. Helping with warning of traffic during a practice session or race. 13. Giving the gaps between cars in qualifying so as to better position the car for a clear lap. 14. Tyre choice at the next pitstop. 15. Number of laps a competitor has done on a set of tyres during a race. 16. Tyre specification of a competitor. 17. Information concerning a competitor's likely race strategy. 18. Safety car window. 19. Driving breaches by team driver or competitor, e.g. missing chicanes, running off track, time penalty will be applied etc. 20. Notification that DRS is enabled or disabled. 21. Dealing with a DRS system failure. 22. Change of front wing position at the next pitstop. 23. Oil transfer. 24. When to enter the pits. 25. Reminders to check for white lines, bollards, weighbridge lights when entering or leaving the pits. 26. Reminders about track limits. 27. Passing on messages from race control. 28. Information concerning damage to the car. 29. Number of laps remaining. 30. Test sequence information during practice sessions, e.g. aero-mapping. 31. Weather information. It would seem Toto is using #1 as his argument but the examples simply don't bear any relation to what the team said to Nico and his subsequent use of 7th gear.
The truth is I hate those rules....but if you going into enforce it for one you enforce for all.. When you say drive through the 7 gear or what ever you are coaching the driver...in my opinion.
Not only that but they told him how to fix it, not just that he had the issue. I think telling him which engine mode to go into is also the issue but we'll see. The way I read those rules I'd say they were allowed to tell Nico what is wrong with the gear box and he has to then know which engine mode to put it into to save it and that he then needs to shift through the gear (I don't agree that drivers should be expected to know these things though personally but that's just me).
Firstly I wasn't trying to be snarky so apologies if it came across like that. My point is that although the driver will be punished it's not only about them but is a team sport. The unreliable gearbox gave up and if he didn't get the advice over the radio he would have dropped further back (being stuck in 7th gear). If he gets a 10 second penalty he'll still be 3rd.That was my point.
So no official result till about 5pm if we are lucky. TV coverage will be over fans will be on their way home. Why the heck does it take so long. Stewards should have been looking at all data immediately. Get Merc and Nico in after press conference. Publish result as soon as poss. Don't wait till all fans left track and TV coverage ended.
Well here is a stat Nico will want to break. Every year Lewis has won the British Grand Prix he has won the title. 2008, 2014, 2015 and who knows for 2016!
Pretty boring race, and I wouldn't of thought that, the way it started. Couples of points from me. Don't agree with the no data from the pit wall rule, but it's a fairly open and shut case if you ask me. And lastly, I can't believe that Vettal got a penalty for his pass on Massa. It looked like a racing pass to me, with a lost of control, but still a fair pass. At this rate every single overtake is going to be investigated.
From Sky news feed: "An update now from Sky Sports News HQ's Craig Slater from the Silverstone paddock. "It's a slightly grey area. "Teams are allowed to tell the driver to make alterations to avoid a critical failure with the car. "However, if you listen carefully to what was actually said, in addition to the new mode he was advised of he was also advised to downshift through the problem. That could be construed as a driver aid, or instruction, which would perhaps fall foul of the rules. "The situation is that Rosberg went in to see the stewards, he was in there for about half an hour. Subsequently, Mercedes team manager Ron Meadows and chief engineer Andrew Shovlin have also gone in to see the stewards. "I'm getting mixed messages. Mercedes have been telling me we'll get quite a speedy resolution to this, but sources in the FIA are advising me that as this is potentially the first time a driver will fall foul of these regulations, because they are setting a precedent, the stewards are taking their time over their deliberations. "So it could take a couple of hours for a decision."" Not sure if that is a couple of hours more or a couple of hours from the race.
I hope they get rid of it. I kind of hope there is no punishment as it's so silly though if after waiting this long it's "no change all as it were" it'd be such an anti climax to the "drama" built up around it. x_x
