Are there rules regarding this?

If not all that matters is, was he too fast in terms of pit lane speed?

As explained by the FIA they measured the distance using the white line as the reference, if a driver cuts inside that line and shortens the distance then he will register a higher speed for that section than his speedo may suggest. Tough, stay within the bounds of the track and there will be no issue.

As said before there is nothing in the rules that prevents crossing of the white line in the pit entry. Sebastian had done the same thing on his first pitstop and there was no issue then, from what I remember reading.

No, there would be no issue if they stayed within the white lines with all wheels, however - "stay within the bounds of the track" is defined as having at least two wheels on the track. Unless specifically forbidden, like at pit exit, Vettel took a perfectly legal line. And since the speed is defined as km/h, Vettel did not make any mistake and should not have been punished. I am sure that FiA will clarify the rules and have it in their routines that they warn the drivers when this can be an issue, but as it stands, if RBR's data is correct, FiA made a mistake.

Where is that defined?

I am not going to look it up for you. Watch a F1 race and you will simply know. Or, if that is too boring for you, read up on any of the threads that discusses KKimi at Spa, Webber in Singapore, Hamilton/Kimi at Spa last year, or whatever. Or continue to believe what you want. I am sure you will pick the last option.

What you mean is you know you can't find. It is an accepted practise, but there is no such defintion as far as the rules are concerned, and that's what counts. The speeding could be as a result of cutting the corner, and if that is the case he was caught bang to rights. It could just as easily be that he went in hot, but my guess is he took too much out of the corner.

There is no definition that stipulates when a car has left the track? That would surprise me, but if it really is the case then the "accepted practise" is the general rule. It does not change anything.

I saw the video too and I also think that it was another FiA-mistake.
But what alternatives do Vettel and RBR have to get it fixed?

Re-run the race

It can not be fixed, so FiA just have to make sure it is not repeated, and they should also publicly admit they made a mistake. But the silence from both camps hints that no one wants to admiy blame and no one can prove they are right.

As he took an unnecessary penalty, maybe the FIA can allow him to have a free penalty, ie an engine change without a grid penalty. They cant re-classify the race as that would be unfair to the other drivers. Or can they? The only way they can do that is if they give him the time he lost for the drive through penalty. I wonder how many seconds it is.

I think they know exactly how many seconds and I hope they re-classify the race too. I hope Mosley-FiA has a spine, which I doubt though.

With the electronic equipment on an F1 car, there should be no doubt whatsoever about the speed that a car is doing in the pit-lane. This is another example of a good rule being ruined by half hearted administration. The ECU should be able to monitor pitlane speed. I hate controversy. I hate controversy even more when it is as significant as this incident. Seb needed a run of good results and some poor results from the Brawn cars to become WDC. Even so, if the lad is lose the championship let him do it on the track. It would be too strong to say that this incident has robbed him of the title. But it has certainly gone a long way towards robbing him of the opportunity to go for it. This decision was just plain wrong.

A simple beam across the pitlane that captures the cars transponder which sends a signal to the telemetry data capture for the car and it is a simple task to look at the speed that the car was doing when it broke the beam. The car is kept to the speed limit until the exit beam is broken.

My heart goes out to Seb on this one.

Exactly. The system should be changed the way You suggest. No guesswork. And they [Mosley-FiA(sco)] should compensate Vettel so that the results become the correct ones.

Vote Vatanen.

If they give him back the equvalent of a drive through (25 seconds) or the time cost hime more than 20.2 seconds then that would promote him to the win. That would mean he only trails Button by 11 points. I cant see them promoting him to the win though. Saying that nothing would suprise me from the FIA. We all know that if it is spot on that he didn't speed then he should be rewarded the points he should have had. That would mean he would now be on at least 72 points, potentially 74. If Button beats Vettel by 2 points then we know that he won it by a provable mistake by the FIA and will always be thought of as the championship that Button won by an incorrect provable decision. Again its down to the Singapore race. Incorrect result seriously affecting the championship.

An apology fron the FIA would not be enough in my eyes.

Since racing is about positions it is impossible to give him back the time, just as it should be impossible to give time penalties.

One question this issue is raising though is the delay of telemetry reading - are they no longer allowed to receive telemetry from the cars? It must have been more than 10 minutes between the offense and the actual drive through and RBR could have said "We think you are wrong, our telemetry shows no speeding. Let's settle this after the race instead". Since there was no official investigation going on, I think it would have been possible to demand a proper analysis and risk a grid penalty in the next race.

The thing is they do give time penalties post race. You dont have to a genius to know he would have finished at least 2nd if it wasn't for that penalty. He was just over 10 seconds behind Glock. We know he lost more than 10 seconds. I am not suggesting he would have won the race, but in Spa Lewis got the 25 second penalty after the race. I think he should be given at least 2nd as it cant be proven that he would have overtaken Lewis.

I support that view 100%. A penalty of that nature should be a time added penalty so that it can be taken away on the day and then added back on under appeal without changing the result. Seb was left with nowhere to go on this. There is nothing that can be done to compensate Seb. However, something can be done to prevent this injustice being inflicted on other innocent drivers.

Such minor speeding one time over short distance shouldn't even be penalized. There is no safety issue or meaningful advantage gained. It would suffice to warm the driver not to do it again.

That is also a very good point. I have been alarmed by the present trend to play banger racing as car pull out of their pit-boxes. I always liked the three lane system better.

But you are right. A warning system along a yellow card system would be a good idea. Three warnings and you get a penalty.

I disagree. The penalty would then become very subjective and the drivers would push the boundary of what is acceptable. The best and easiest method is the one used, "thou shalt not speed", no arguments, no if's, no but's, everyone treated the same.

I agree, rules should be black and white. No wishy washy adaptations of them.

You breaks the rules, you gets the punishment.

1) why cant they go by team telemetry
2) why not install a sensor on the car which tells you speeds, once you enter the pit lane and until you exit. surely F1 management has the tech know how to institute this?

No / Driver 7 - Fernando Alonso
Team Renault F1 Team
Time 16:38:00
Session Race
Fact Speding in the Pit lane - 111.2 Km/h
Offence Breach of Article 30.12 of the 2009 FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations
Penalty Fine (Reconissance lap) 2,400 Euro

How come Alonso didn't get a drive-through?

If Vettel had the same penalty, he could have won that race in Singapore.

I know its ifs and buts, but that is mega inconsistant.

I can only assume because the offence didnt happen during the actual race.

True, but I thought that once they left the pitbox for the race it was the same.

I apologise for my previous post.

It this is taken from the FIA protocol they should hand the stewards a heavy fine for not spelling the word "reconnaissance" right