Consistency

28/07/2009

Before I type a single word of this article, I want to make a couple of things absolutely clear.

I regard the loss of Henry Surtees' life as a dreadful tragedy and in no way wish to politicise this loss. In fact I would like to take this opportunity to offer my condolences to Henry's loved ones. And as for Felipe Massa, my stomach turned as I regarded footage of his incident during qualifying at the Hungarian GP. I extend my best wishes to Felipe and his loved one and sincerely hope that his recovery goes well.

I have stated the above because I cannot write what I am about to without referring to both incidents and I do not want idiotic hate mail suggesting that I am diminishing the seriousness of either incident

So Renault has been banned from the next Formula One Grand Prix event because it did not correctly bolt Fernando's front-right wheel on during his first pit stop at the Hungaroring. That is the decision of the stewards at that event.

I have to admit that I am miffed. I do not think I am alone in regarding such a penalty as draconian and perhaps without precedent. In my decades of watching F1, I cannot recall a team ever having been excluded from a subsequent event as a result of an improperly fitted wheel which later parted company with its car, and I have certainly seen plenty of them part company with cars for this reason.

In the worst case I can remember, Michele Alboreto's Minardi shed a wheel in the Pitlane during that dreadful weekend at Imola in 1994 and when that wheel finished its upward journey, it descended back into the pitlane and injured a Ferrari mechanic. There was no race suspension for that one.

But back to the present day. In a nutshell, I am nothing short of astonished that Renault, as a team, has been excluded from the next GP. Why? Because Renault, according to the steward's report, has been adjudged guilty of a crime that MIGHT have caused a catastrophe.

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