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Alain Prost, McLaren MP4-5 Honda, leads Ayrton Senna, McLaren MP4-5 Honda, and Riccardo Patrese, Williams FW12C Renault
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When an F1 rules farce scuppered two opportunistic drivers

Rules and the consistency with which they’re applied are a point of friction between the drivers and governing body. MAURICE HAMILTON says is there an argument for just letting the drivers do what they do best?

Whatever happened to F1 drivers being allowed to get on with what they do best? It seems every move has become regulated to the point where a measuring tape, protractor and overhead images of corners are needed to decide which driver has the right to exit ahead of the other.

There was a time when F1 racers were credited with enough common sense and spatial awareness to work out the difference between a move that was marginal – as they all ought to be, given the very definition of driving at the limit – and one that was downright dangerous. In the case of the latter, drivers proved capable of policing themselves – with the shameful exception of their kangaroo court wrongly accusing Riccardo Patrese of causing Ronnie Peterson’s fatal accident at Monza in 1978.

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