View Full Version : BAR gets 2 Race Ban
Oh crap..
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/4514569.stm
:(
Big Adam
05-05-2005, 17:17
Hardly surprising really though.
Not when you consider BAR's only argument was "Whoops, how did that get there? Silly us!"
Obviously nobody is going to know the ins and outs of this all, but chances are that Button and Sato didn't turn round to their engineers and say "here, make us a bit lighter or we'll fire you". It really annoys me that two really good drivers are being forced to sit out because of some twit, that decided to add an extra fuel tank, and expect it not to get noticed when they car gets examined.
In my opinion, no BAR should not go unpunished, but it should have been something far different from what it is, in the way of a large fine to the company, as opposed to damaging two up and coming drivers potentially great future...
Hardly surprising really though.
Not when you consider BAR's only argument was "Whoops, how did that get there? Silly us!"
True, but it does kinda ruin the next two races. Its just going to end up a straight scrap between ferrari and renault with nothing else to break it up.
PJ Matthews
05-05-2005, 20:27
Dunc - you not heard of McLaren and the blistering pace they have? If anything the next race will be a straight scrap between them and ferrari, unless renault make some big changes they could be lucky to get a top 3.
not much use if they cant make it further than a few laps though..
Dunc - you not heard of McLaren and the blistering pace they have? If anything the next race will be a straight scrap between them and ferrari, unless renault make some big changes they could be lucky to get a top 3.
Assuming McLaren have sorted their reliability problems (which I hope they have, for Kimi's sake) I'd expect them to be a serious contenter at the weekend.
It's a shame what happened with BAR. I've read a lot of stuff this week about what exactly the case for/against them was and it seems to be a bit of both. the FIA's rules are a bit ambiguous in places, but BAR should know how strict they are and have been a bit more careful.
One of the issues seemed to be that the car was meant to weighed without fuel in it (after the race) but it was in fact given to the marshalls with fuel still in the secondary tank. Not clever BAR... I'm not convinced that it was a deliberate (sp..?) attempt to cheat on BAR's part but they were certainly taking a risk.
I wonder if the FIA would have been quite so quick to ask for a ban if the team in question was Ferrari... Poissibly not imho.
Looking forward to the weekend though :D
IMHO if it was a team such as Ferrari, then I would have banned them quicker/more heavily, over the likes of BAR, as if you look at last year for example. The likes of Ferrari didn't really give much drama, even in the sense of BAR not finishing a race, was better than what Ferrari did, with their running on in front, that, personally didn't make much of an enjoyable race, where as the scraps that contained either one of the two BAR drivers were something quick spectacular and enjoyable.
where as the scraps that contained either one of the two BAR drivers were something quick spectacular and enjoyable.
Agreed - Sato is a bit erratic sometimes, but the guy's got tallent and, more importantly, guts. Button is a great driver as well, it's a shame BAR didn't have a very competitive car for the first few races, and now with the ban it's gone further downhill for Button's season.
The ban is also playing nicely into Frank William's hands, as unless Button has around 70% of the points total of the championship leader by the end of June (I think) then he has an option for Button to drive for him next year. And with Webber and Heidfeld already driving for him this year, he potentially has the pick of 3 drivers, plus any others whose contracts are up for renewal.
Cheers,
Stephen
The ruling was the toughest sanction taken against a Formula One team for 20 years.
Guaranteed if it had been Ferrari they would have been far more lenient :mad: Still I suppose it's better than them being removed from the championship as the FIA wanted :rolleyes: It's also not like BAR where way quicker than everyone else, far from it.
It's also not like BAR where way quicker than everyone else, far from it.
I seem to remember that in laps just before Button's first pit stop he set lap times significantly faster than Alonso. These were later bettered by MS, but certainly Button was faster than he had been earlier this season. So I suppose there is a case for BAR gaining some advantage from the disputed fuel tank, but this could equally well be from other modifications to the car.
I'm not certain of this btw, I'm just remembering watching the live timings (which are really nice to have available). Feel free to prove me wrong...
...but certainly Button was faster than he had been earlier this season.
Yep but they've been using the same fuel tank all season, according to the comments made by Max Mosley ;)
If the BAR needs to have extra fuel in it to remain above the minimum weight throughout the entire weekend then I can't see where this advantage is. If this secondary fuel tank was replaced with something weighing exactly the same, then the car would be the same weight as it is now and so should therefore perform the same. If this extra fuel was used to run the car, which would push it below the minimum weight limit, then they would indeed be breaking the rules. From what I've read/heard the rules are not 100% clear on the subject. It is of course possible that BAR aren't the only team to be running in this way.
They claim the fuel in that tank wasnt used, and it was there for pressure reasons. However the data given couldnt prove that it was full all race, and therefore that the car was above minimum weight all race
or something like that..
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