Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Felipe Massa and Esteban Gutierrez have both been handed three-place grid penalties for impeding rivals during qualifying at Barcelona.

Revised Grid

01 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:20.718
02 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:20.972
03 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:21.054
04 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:21.177
05 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:21.218
06 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:21.308
07 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:21.570
08 Sergio Perez McLaren 1:22.069
09 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:21.219 *
10 Paul di Resta Force India 1:22.233
11 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:22.127
12 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:22.166
13 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:22.346
14 Jenson Button McLaren 1:23.166
15 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:22.389
16 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:23.260
17 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:23.318
18 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:24.661
19 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:22.793 *
20 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:24.713
21 Max Chilton Marussia 1:4.996
22 Charles Pic Caterham 1:25.070

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227/8706565/Massa-and-Gutierrez-penalised

McLaren opted not to run its latest-specification front wing in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix because it did not have the chance to check it would pass the FIA's bodywork flexibility tests.

A pair of new front wings reached Barcelona overnight, but ahead of Saturday morning practice the decision was made not to risk running them without checking.

"It was very tight," said team principal Martin Whitmarsh when asked why the new front wing design was not used.

"We were unable to be confident that they complied legally and we took the decision that unless you are confident in the compliance of the wings then you shouldn't use them."

McLaren had hoped to test the flexibility of the parts on the FIA test apparatus but did not get the opportunity to do so before free practice.

While the wings complied with the regulations when tested in-house, the team did not want to leave itself open to disqualification should its tolerances have been incorrect.

"You will see people queuing down at what is known as the 'bridge of doom' and it's the tests that go on there that determine whether the car is legal or not.

"We and other teams test parts before they are here, the tolerances of stiffness and dimensions is very tight.

"Everyone does their own test but everyone tests on critical issues on the FIA equipment.

"If you can't do that, given the tolerances, you have got inherent risk."

Whitmarsh did not blame the FIA for not being able to test the wing, accepting that the apparatus did not have to be available to McLaren when it wanted to use it.

"The hope was that we would have the ability to get onto the rig but in fairness to the FIA, they have got no obligation to make it available to use early on a Saturday morning so there is no criticism of them - that was the chance that we took.

"Without that check, it wasn't prudent to go forward."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/107364

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...