Exclusive Q&A: FIA Clarifies GP Controversies

Formula One's governing body, the FIA, has agreed to clarify several points of controversy in the last couple of races, the Canadian and US Grands Prix.

In an Atlas F1 exclusive, the FIA spokesman has responded - after consultation with the key FIA personnel in both races - to all questions submitted by Atlas F1.

Williams and Toyota Disqualification in Canada

Last week, both Williams and Toyota cars were disqualified from the Canadian Grand Prix, after the air ducts on their front brakes were found in breach of the technical regulations.

Q: Could you please clarify whether this breach was discovered following a "tip off" to the scrutineers?

FIA: "The breach was discovered by the FIA scrutineers. There was no official or unofficial protest."

Q: Why wasn't this breach discovered in scrutineering during the weekend - i.e. before the race?

FIA: "Conformity is assessed as part of our post-race scrutineering and was detected on that basis. Teams are expected to [independently] check that they comply with the regulations before the race."

Q: Were the air ducts routinely checked in scrutineering in previous events (as they are not specifically mentioned in any of the official scrutineering reports from 2003-2004)?

FIA: "Brake ducts are checked but not necessarily 'routinely' at other events. In Canada, the requirement of the track meant that we 'routinely' check their set-up."

Juan Pablo Montoya's Exclusion from the US GP

Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya was disqualified from the US Grand Prix, after he switched to the spare car too late at the start of the race. However, the Colombian was given the black flag more than 90 minutes after his breach of the regulations, on the formation lap.

Q: Why has it taken the stewards this long to serve the penalty for Montoya?

FIA: "Given the seriousness of the penalty and the very tight margin (Montoya was just a couple of seconds over the 15 second deadline), all the available video and timing evidence had to be carefully cross referenced and reviewed by the Race Director and then by the Stewards before a fair decision could be made.

"Set that against a background of multiple race incidents - an 'off' involving four cars on the first lap, two safety car deployments, two big individual crashes, one involving the management of a medical extrication - and you could perhaps understand why reviewing the Juan Pablo incident took time."

Q: Don't the FIA Sporting Regulations state that a penalty must be served within 25 minutes? In the British Grand Prix of 1998, I believe, a penalty was served after the allowed time and was therefore annulled by the Court of Appeal in a later hearing

FIA: "The 25 minute time limit was removed from the regulations some years ago to avoid the risk of reaching hasty decisions. In any Stewards' decision, and especially one involving a potential exclusion, it's vital that the all the available evidence is rigorously examined before reaching a conclusion as happened in this case. A wrongly excluded driver cannot be reinstated."

Q: There seems to be confusion as to where in the F1 Sporting Regulations this kind of breach should amount to an exclusion of the car. I know that this penalty was handed before for the exact same breach (Arrows' Enrique Bernoldi was black flagged in the 2002 Australian GP after jumping to the spare too late as well), however in reading the Regulations, the list of penalties that are offered to the stewards do not include exclusion and an exclusion is only mentioned as a penalty for other issues.

FIA: "The Stewards have the authority to exclude any car or driver under Articles 141 and 153 of the Code. The rationale behind the Bernoldi and the Montoya exclusions were straightforward - if the driver should not have been in the race in the first instance then the penalty should be to remove him from it."

Michael Schumacher's Overtaking Rubens Barrichello

Michael Schumacher has overtaken Rubens Barrichello after the first stint of the Safety Car came to an end. According to the regulations, overtaking is forbidden after the safety car enters the pitlane until the cars cross the finish line.

According to the official timing, at the end of lap 5 he was 13 thousandths of a second behind Rubens Barrichello. However, the graphics on the television feed immediately after lap 5 showed Michael Schumacher as first - and only a moment later changed to show Barrichello as first. Likewise, the official F1 website, which uses the official FOM live timing, showed Michael Schumacher as first at the end of the 5th lap.

Furthermore, the gap between the two drivers as viewed on television did not seem to be as big in distance as 13 thousandths of a second would suggest. At around 320km/h, 0.013 would translate to 115 centimetres - that is a quarter of the length of the F2004. Visually, there doesn't seem to be such a distance between them.

Q: Was this issue investigated by the stewards at all?

FIA: "The matter was examined very carefully and no action was deemed necessary."

Q: What form of "back ups" does the FIA have to ensure the timing system is accurate and did not make a mistake? For example, during the race the timing system showed Kimi Raikkonen as "STOP" (stopped on the circuit) and then later corrected itself. So mistakes do happen. The question is, what kind of assurance do you have in Schumacher's case?

FIA: "There are two back up systems in place and that's why Kimi's transponder corrected itself. The timing page did briefly display Michael as being ahead of Rubens but then automatically corrected itself to the accurate timing for the lap. The timekeepers also contacted Race Control to confirm that the system had adjusted to the correct timing."

Q: How or why were the graphics on the TV wrong? Are they not connected to the official timing system?

FIA: "This is a question you would need to ask the Timekeepers."

Q: The regulations state that "overtaking remains forbidden until the cars cross the line." Surely the spirit of the rule isn't to see two cars side by side while crossing the line? Surely the act of overtaking - in the case of Michael Schumacher - had undisputedly began before crossing the line, even if he finalized the move only after?

FIA: "I'm afraid that we can only base our decisions on the facts. The question in this instance is very simple - did Michael overtake Rubens before the line? The answer is no and therefore the rules were not broken."

No Red Flag during the Evacuation of Ralf Schumacher

Williams driver Ralf Schumacher crashed on lap ten at turn 13 in Indianapolis, slamming backwards into the wall before coming to a stop in the middle of the track. Medical staff spent more than 10 minutes extricating him from the wrecks of his car, while other track workers were busy clearing the track from the many debris that spread around. All this time, the US GP was not red flagged but instead the remaining cars drove behind the safety car lap after lap, making their way through the scene of the accident.

Q: With Ralf stuck in his car on one of the fastest straights in Formula One, with dozens of medical and track crew around him - and given the time it has taken to evacuate him, as well as the amount of debris spread around, why was the race not red flagged?

FIA: "Races are not red flagged unless the track is blocked or there is a clear judgment that it is too dangerous to continue. Race control was in constant touch with the Safety Car and the feedback from the track was that it was quite possible to avoid the debris.

"The start of a race is potentially the most dangerous moment and is therefore something to be avoided if a Safety Car deployment can manage the situation safely and effectively which was the case at Indianapolis."