Alonso got a pat on the back for cooperating but there are still questions about him being fueled for only 14 laps and not being aware of the upcoming events.

Looks a bit mild compared to the $100m fine McLaren got last year, IMO

I don't really see that as an issue - computer simulation had figured that was the time to stop on both a two stop and three stop strategy. But moreover, Alonso is a confident driver, and he'd reckon with a light fuel tank, he could make decent progress through the field. (Don't forget Hamiltons light fuel gamble in Monaco this year, for example)

Well, yes. But I'm of the opinion that the $100m fine was unjust, and this was overall a fairer punishment.

Briatore and Symonds were big and ugly enough to know better, but Piquet was just following orders.

Also, you're not an expert on professional motor racing now you've maxed out Burnout, you know.

Surely there are rules about not doing dangerous things that pretty much cover it though?

I'm an expert on crashes, although admittedly only the accidental kind. I'm sure the Nazi lieutenants were put under pressure and were more than a tad worried about getting on Hitler's bad side too, but they were still rightly convicted for their crimes. Yes, it's not easy to resist, but that doesn't absolve him of responsibility for his own actions. I can see why motor racing would let off the "little fish" in order to nail the bigger fish, but the wider world shouldn't.

Thinking about it, he probably broke the "deliberate obstruction" rule in a rather odd way.

Cor, it didn't take long for someone to compare a sporting incident to Hitler. Well done!

if he thinks he's going to get another seat in F1 he's deluding himself.

Worried about losing your job, have a family to feed and no other income and you're asked to do something dodgy? Hmm. Maybe justifiable.

Worried about losing your job which is a paid extension of your hobby when you and your father are multi millionaires and you're asked to do sonething dodgy which could, possibly, kill someone if it went wrong? Gtff.

You've surpassed Even your ridiculous extension if devils advocacy this time myp.

I think myp has a point. In the "good old days" of F1 both Senna and Schumacher have not only put their own lives in danger but other peoples too by crashing into fellow racers just to win. These guys weren't even ordered by their teams they did it off their own backs. Yet they are both held in high esteem in F1 for being fierce competitors, especially Senna, when what they should be seen as are despicable cheats. I appreciate times have changed but these views should be polar opposites.

You left out Hitler.

And using the past as a lovely example of things we did in the past and ignoring the negatives to justify similar behaviour today is bollocks. Otherwise there would be a slave cooking my dinner and I'd call sambo through to pour me a glass of wine.

As an aside, if all the Beexers lived 250 years ago then I would vote Riles "most likely to own most slaves"

@Riles

I am pretty sure if you asked Schumacher, today, whether he crashed into Damon Hill on purpose he would say no. He is protecting himself, Piquet is not. I am in no way condoning what Piquet did, but I can see why he did it. I think Renault were pretty stupid to create a disgruntled ex employee with that sort of knowledge.

And as you alluded to above comparing slavery to a sport is even more bollocks than talking about something that happened in a sport less than 15 years ago.

I think myp has a point. In the "good old days" of F1 both Senna and Schumacher have not only put their own lives in danger but other peoples too by crashing into fellow racers just to win. These guys weren't even ordered by their teams they did it off their own backs. Yet they are both held in high esteem in F1 for being fierce competitors, especially Senna, when what they should be seen as are despicable cheats. I appreciate times have changed but these views should be polar opposites.

but he shouldn't have crashed out for a team mate without some parachute in the way of a written contract extension.

Yes you're right, that's exactly where he went wrong

Yes, but history is written by the winners and as Liz Taylor famously said, "There's no deodorant like success".

You could argue these points all day, but Senna, Prost, Schumy acted despicably to win, not to save their mediocre asses from getting canned. It was wrong but then you could also argue that F1 is a much BIGGER sport now than it was even ten years ago. I'm not saying it doesn't stink and I do feel for PK jr, but he shouldn't have crashed out for a team mate without some parachute in the way of a written contract extension.

I also have issues with the alleged fact that PK sr apparently told Charlie Whiting in October last year and nothing was done. The whole thing fucking stinks in my opinion.

So you are saying that to risk yours and someone else's life to prove you are better is more justifiable than being pressured to risk your own life, and let's be honest safety in F1 is much greater these days.

With Senna, his crash was mainly due to being screwed over by Balestre, with a small amount of Prost deliberately hitting him the previous year.

I find that understandable, if not desirable.

What does "sportingly dubious" mean, exactly?

Motorsport has always been about rich people enjoying themselves and an associate of mine has contended that F1 has been sportingly dubious for decades. I'm inclined to trust him. Looking at it though, with hindsight, I think that Mosely had the last laugh.

Yep, Hamiltons engine glitch that managed to repair itself after a minute or two, but cost him the championship has stuck with me ever since. I also remember some dude ringing in to 5 Live after that race and saying he was a McLaren employee who had been told Hamilton wouldn't win the championship, bear in mind this was after the nicking information thing with McLaren and Ferrari. Could well be a hoax but they cut him off after a very small amount of questioning considering his allegations, and they never mentioned it again.

I'll remember that for the next time I call someone in the public eye a puppy touching tax dodger. It happens more than you'd think.

I'm sure BBC reporting is getting worse. Spot the deliberate mistake.

I'm sure BBC reporting is getting worse. Spot the deliberate mistake.

I'm sure BBC reporting is getting worse. Spot the deliberate mistake.

The website seems to routinely put up stories without subbing or fact checking. Raikkonens first season with Ferrari was 2007 though?

edit - damn, you could have waited

Yesterday I spotted a story on their entertainment section that claimed that Mickey Rourke won the best actor Oscar last year for The Wrestler. It's since been changed to "nomination"

2008 wasn't his first season at Ferrari. He won the title for them in 2007.

They've changed it now, anyway. It originally said he won the Drivers' Championship for McLaren in 2007. Alonso and Hamilton were at McLaren, then.