10 place penalties and F1 News sites
I notice several F1 news sites (which I’m not going to name) are claiming that Jacques Villeneuve will suffer a 10 place penalty in Malaysia as a result of his engine failure in Bahrain. One is even suggesting that Fisichella can change his engine as his retirement wasn’t engine related. These are completely untrue.
The rules regarding engine changes are quite simple, especially the part saying when an engine can be changed without penalty:
Any driver who failed to finish the race at the first of the two Events for reasons beyond the control of the team or driver, may start the second with a different engine without a penalty being incurred.
That’s it. So clearly JV is entitled to change his blown engine without penalty. Equally Fisichella can replace his motor, not because his retirement wasn’t engine related, but purely because he never made it to the checkered flag.
David Coulthard is not so lucky - his engine expired on the slow-down lap after the end of the race. He will have a penalty in Malaysia.
If you see websites continuing to advance the idea that JV will suffer a penalty and/or a nonsense reason for Fisi avoiding it, I strongly suggest you take everything you read on that site with a pinch of salt. There is no excuse having something as straightforward as this incorrect.
3 comments March 14th, 2006
