Alonso not surprised by Schumi move

Fernando Alonso admits the fact that Michael Schumacher overtook him during the closing stages of the Monaco GP didn't surprise him.

Confusion reigned after the race as to whether the move on Alonso was legal as the green light went up moments after the Safety Car returned to the pits at the final corner. However, the stewards deemed it illegal and slapped the seven-time World Champion with a 20-second penalty.

Alonso, though, insists the rules are clear and says he wanted to overtake Lewis Hamilton, but his team told him not to do it.

"The team told me over radio that we could not overtake," he told spox.com. "I wanted to attack Lewis Hamilton, but I was forbidden by the team to do it. The fact that Michael went ahead to pass me did not surprise me."

Alonso, who finished the race in sixth place following Schumacher's penalty, says there was never any doubt that the German would be punished.

"I was calm and that was later confirmed by the stewards, who put things right," he wrote in his Ferrari blog.

It was a "bittersweet" weekend for Alonso in Monaco. He was forced to watch qualifying from the team garage after he smashed his car during practice. However, he had a much better race as he moved from the back of the pack to sixth.

"In terms of the points I picked up, it was not good enough, especially as we were in the right shape to fight for the win," he added in his Ferrari blog. "Following on from Barcelona, where we were not fast enough to win, on the Monaco track, where aerodynamics is less important, we were more competitive.

"Sunday was very satisfying. We were aware that if we wanted to finish in the points, everything had to be perfect: the car, strategy, overtaking and tyres. And that was indeed the case."

Source: Planet F1

Moss: I would have done the same as Michael

Sir Stirling Moss has revealed that, having watched the incident between Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso in Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix, he would have reacted in the same way had he been in the German's position. The 7-time World Champion was handed a 20-second penalty for overtaking under Safety Car conditions although the Englishman feels that the regulations must be amended.

As the Safety Car returned to the pit lane on the final lap in Monte-Carlo, green flags and lights were displayed around the circuit - meaning, under normal circumstances, that the field had returned to full racing conditions.

However, with the sporting rules stating that no more passing is permitted if the Safety Car has been in use on the last lap, former driver Moss is sure that the guideline must be revised before the next race.

"The whole issue hinges on the lights going green and it's a racer's instinct to react to a green light or a green flag," Moss, who clinched victory for Mercedes in the 1955 British Grand Prix, explained to GPUpdate.net on Wednesday morning.

"On top of that, ten teams appeared to have advised their drivers to start racing again. By the letter of the law it was safe to race - really the lights should have stayed yellow and there would have been no confusion."


Furthermore, Sir Stirling believes that Schumacher performed in the correct manner under the circumstances. "I'm sure Michael did the right thing at the time and if I was in the same place I would have some exactly the same thing," he continued, stressing that the rule must be modified to avoid such perplexities in the future:

"The upshot is, the rule needs clarifying for next time in order to prevent confusion and so that drivers and teams are clear on what they can or cannot do under those circumstances."

GPUpdate.net is also pleased to report that Sir Stirling continues to make a rapid recovery from his shocking domestic accident in March and is now able to walk unaided, barely ten weeks later.
Source: GP Update

Button: We all made mistakes

Jenson Button is refusing to hand blame to the unnamed mechanic who left a transport cap over his left radiator intake at the start of the Monaco GP.

Button's grand prix came to an end on the second lap of the race after the cap caused his engine to overheat, pretty much cooking it. His retirement from the Monaco GP saw him drop from the very top of the Drivers' standings down to fourth place.

But despite the blow, the reigning World Champ has taken a pragmatic attitude, conceding that yes mistakes were made, everyone makes them at times.

"I am sure the guy involved is gutted and I feel sorry for him," Button told The Times.

"We all make mistakes and we just have to make sure we don't do that again. As soon as I saw the flames and fire from the back of the car, I knew we weren't going any farther.

"It is a human error and I am not going to blame anyone because we all make mistakes."

And it just so happens that Button wouldn't have a leg to stand on if he did start throwing the blame around after he made a mistake in qualifying.

The Brit, who could only manage eighth place on the Monte Carlo grid, drove off with the television remote control still in his cockpit.

"That was my fault. I hung on to it. At Rascasse there is a little opening in the fence and I threw it through there. It still works!" he told the Mirror.

And although one can only assume that Martin Whitmarsh was left fuming, the McLaren team boss still managed to bite his tongue.

It is disappointing to everyone in the team and devastating to the person responsible.

"I know these things happen but it is just hard to accept when it does. Inevitably he is devastated. The car went to the grid with no airflow so it was cooked.

"You do what you can but you cannot recover from that. These cars don't have fans, they rely on airflow so if you deny that you are not going to survive very long. We will sit down and talk about it."

Source: Planet F1

Oz minister: Hamilton 'a dickhead' for risking lives

The Lewis Hamilton 'over-exuberant driving' row refuses to die down even now the Australian Grand Prix has been and gone, with Mark Webber springing to his McLaren-Mercedes rival's defence and Victoria roads minister Tim Pallas conversely labelling the former F1 World Champion 'a dickhead'

In an extraordinary twist, Lewis Hamiton has been labelled 'a dickhead' for having 'put people's lives at risk' with the 'over-exuberant driving' that brought the former F1 World Champion to the attention of Australian police on Friday evening – as Red Bull Racing rival Mark Webber waded into the row by calling his homeland 'a nanny state'.

Hamilton was stopped by police following free practice in Melbourne last week, for performing a smoky 'burn-out' in his new silver Mercedes sportscar not far from the city's Albert Park circuit. The 25-year-old McLaren-Mercedes star was admonished for his driving – for which he later issued a public apology – and had his car temporarily impounded, and will likely later face a fine for his actions.

Webber, though – like many F1 fans – has argued that the whole incident has been blown entirely out of proportion and if anything is an indictment of the world that we live in today, and the New South Wales native revealed that since returning Down Under from Europe for his home grand prix, he had spent much of his time 'dodging the ridiculous speeding and parking [rules] and all the nanny-state country that we have here in Australia' that 'pisses him off'.

“It's a great country,” the 33-year-old conceded, according to Melbourne newspaper The Age, “but we've got to be responsible for our actions and it's certainly a bloody nanny-state when it comes to what we can do, as Lewis has found out very quickly. I think we've got to read an instruction booklet when we get out of bed as to what we can do and what we can't do, put a yellow vest on and all that sort of stuff. It's certainly changed since I left, and this isn't going to bring me back.”

However, Webber's comments have not been received well by the local authorities, particularly given the fact that an entire family was killed by a speeding car thief last week in his hometown of Queanbeyan near Canberra – and that five people were killed on Victoria roads over the weekend, meaning the annual death toll is currently on-course to be the highest it has been for five years, with 78 fatalities so far this year compared to 67 at the same stage in 2009.

The state government has recently launched a new road safety campaign bluntly entitled 'Don't be a dickhead' – and roads minister Tim Pallas suggests that is precisely what Hamilton was on Friday night.

“Okay, I'll say it – he's a dickhead,” he told radio station 3AW “I think what Mark Webber has done has been totally irresponsible, but he didn't display the behaviour that Lewis Hamilton did, and that put people lives at risk.”

“We've got probably one of the best road safety records in the world, but every day we're getting a fatal,” added top Victoria traffic officer Deputy Commissioner Ken Lay, who contended that Webber and Hamilton should act as better role models for young drivers who perhaps look up to them given their public profile. “I make no apology for our approach in targeting aggressive driving.

“I think there are probably a few Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber fans alive today because of our 'nanny-state' approach... I think Mark needs to take a bit of responsibility for the road safety message. I'd much prefer Mark to be talking about keeping the speeding and the hooning on the race track and being a bit sensible on our roads.”

Victoria Premier John Brumby has made a point of underlining that the rules are there for good reason to protect lives – what appears to sadly be at present a losing battle, and speaking to The Age, transport accident commission minister Tim Holding concurred, reasoning: “I don't think anyone who has lost a loved one because of road trauma would think Victoria's anti-hoon laws are too harsh.”

Source: Crash.net

Lewis Hamilton incident police

Source: YouTube