2012 Japanese Grand Prix FP3 and Qualy Thread

Looking through the stewards decisions post qualifying I see that Vettel and Vergne both got pulled for impeding, but were done under different articles of the sporting code and received different punishments for what, on paper, appears to be the same offence.

I didn't notice them at the time, so what was the difference?

The Stewards, having received a report from the Race Director, have heard from the driver and team
representatives and examined video evidence, have considered the following matter, determine a breach
of the regulations has been committed by the competitor named below and impose the penalty referred
to.
No / Driver 1 - Sebastian Vettel
Competitor Red Bull Racing
Time 14:58
Session Qualifying
Fact The driver of Car 1 impeded car 5 at Turn 16
Offence
Involved in an incident as defined by Article 16.1 of the FIA Formula One Sporting
Regulations
Decision
Reprimand
Reason
Self Explanatory

The Stewards, having received a report from the Race Director, have heard from the driver and team
representative and examined video evidence, have considered the following matter, determine a breach
of the regulations has been committed by the competitor named below and impose the penalty referred
to.
No / Driver 17 - Jean-Eric Vergne
Competitor Scuderia Toro Rosso
Time 14:18
Session Qualifying
Fact The driver of Car 17 impeded car 19 at Turn 16
Offence Breach of Article 31.7 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations
Decision
Drop of 3 Grid positions
Reason
Self Explanatory

OK, I thought he had abandoned it because of the yellows. My point still stands that if the second run had gone wrong he would have been committed to starting older tyres.

I understand your point but all the teams tend to do their final run near the end of Q3, which means unless they have two fresh sets of options doing the first run on used options or only doing 1 run at the end.

Kobayashi for the win, please god almighty.

Kobayashi for the win, please god almighty.

I would like that a lot but we all know what's going to happen, Vettel will charge off and Webber will be told to slow the rest. one borefest coming up

Edited by Longtimefan, 06 October 2012 - 19:44.

Keep the faith man, Vettel might chomp his boots.

Looking through the stewards decisions post qualifying I see that Vettel and Vergne both got pulled for impeding, but were done under different articles of the sporting code and received different punishments for what, on paper, appears to be the same offence.

I didn't notice them at the time, so what was the difference?

Some commentators have said that Vettel probably thought that Alonso had abandoned his lap due to the yellow flag.

If the stewards were thinking along these lines, and it made a difference to their decision, it's a pity that they didn't bother to say so.

I remember a couple of years ago, we were promised that in future we would get proper explanations of stewards decisions - that didn't last very long!

Some commentators have said that Vettel probably thought that Alonso had abandoned his lap due to the yellow flag.

If the stewards were thinking along these lines, and it made a difference to their decision, it's a pity that they didn't bother to say so.

I remember a couple of years ago, we were promised that in future we would get proper explanations of stewards decisions - that didn't last very long!

That would be a very poor excuse IMO.

As you say they (max) did promise transparency, what we got was access to the decisions, but no explanation.

I think it was Todt who said that. Nevertheless, yeah there has been no transparency. Can't help but feel that this sport is still run relatively crookedly considering the times we live in.