Renault's One Race Suspension?

Had Ferrari been the team would anything have happened?

Whatever happened to Raikkonen's start? Sure, it was a racing incident, I agree he wasn't at fault, but try to find a word of news... zilch.

To say it paramounts to attempted murder is a bit far fetched. When you go and watch motorsports, there is always an element of risk. Freak accidents happen. A wheel came off Villeneuve's car in the Melbourne Grand Prix and struck and killed a marshall standing BEHIND the safety barrier.

The fact is if Alonso made it back to the pits before the wheel fell off, FIA would not take such harsh action.

The penalty was not for driving on 3 wheels. The penalty was for negligence to inform the driver of the true problem and to allow a dangerous situation to take place jeopardizing the life of their own driver, other drivers, marshalls and spectators.

When a part detaches without notice, it is an unforeseeable accident and the issue of negligence can only occur upon further investigation (e.g. the case of the suspension part from Barrichello's car that struck Massa). However, when you know for a fact that a part is wrongly attached to the car (e.g. the case of Alonso's wheel), we are talking of negligence, which could have caused a tragedy, and which could have been prevented if the team told Alonso exactly what went on and both agreed to stop the car right away at the side of the track.

There are different infractions in F1, but what we witnessed yesterday in Hungary from Renault was the most stupid, especially in the wake of Surtees and Massa's recent accidents. Renault committed basically an attempted murder and they were lucky nothing happened, otherwise I am 100% sure that the legal system has the right to charge them for murder in case of a fatality resulting from that wheel hitting someone.

There are rules. There is common sense. And there is respect for other people's lives. Renault disregarded all of the above. A one race ban is not enough for me. Somebody needs to set an example here and be very stern. I would also consider criminal charges.

Think about it: What if your son or younger brother (if you don't have any try to imagine so) was in the stands and that wheel ended up seriously injuring or killing him? How would you react, especially knowing that the team knew that wheel was improperly secured and could have come off at any second?

EDIT:

From crash.net:

<<Having examined the cause of what happened at the Hungaroring, race stewards have now deemed that Alonso was unsafely released from his pit-stop when his mechanics knew the wheel was not properly attached – yet he himself had no knowledge of the danger. The 21-time grand prix-winner was not made aware of the error.>>

From F1 official website:

<<Budapest stewards decided Renault had been negligent in failing to secure the wheel, in knowingly letting Alonso leave the pits with the problem, and in failing to inform their driver of the issue.>>

It is apparent that the investigation conducted by the stewards resulted in a situation where unequivocably the act of negligence was committed ("knowledge") and therefore punishable. We -who are answering in this section - most of the times don't just invent answers, but read and get informed from what press releases and TV news indicate. Unless they are all wrong, including the stewards, you could be right! I have read that the specific mechanic who was supposed to lock the wheel spoke and admitted his knowledge of the screw-up, and that Alonso's head engineer was also aware. And ultimately the issue gravitates around Briatore's responsibilities. From the mechanic to the boss, they are all accountable. We are not assuming. We are just repeating what has transpired. If you don't like it, I don't know what else we can write. It appears it's not that you don't like the opinions of some of the answerers, but you appear to dislike the facts as well.

As Anna's King said, "Is a puzzlement!"

On the one hand, I agree that the team screwed the pooch by not informing Fernando of the situation. But I think it would be more apropos to deduct manufacturer's points than to penalize Alonso the Innocent. He doesn't deserve to take a hit because the team behaved badly and did their jobs poorly. I don't know about the lollypop guy or the communications manager, but I do know that front tyre mechanic HAD to know he missed the mark. He must shoulder the personal blame. But his blame is also the team's - but NOT Alonso's.

My concern is similar to yours. Where does it all stop? We have become entirely too punishment oriented. Things that are now 'just racing' have the potential of ruining the show (sport, if you prefer) with the punitive mindsets which exist everywhere today - including and especially in F-1.

Rulesmakers and beancounters. All the same piddling mentalities; minuscule, petty, and punitive. Where does it all end? If we allow the pea brains of the world to keep moving forward with this type of mentality, nothing will be safe from those who would protect us from ourselves; those self-righteous, pompous hypocrites with nothing better to do with their sad, petty, meaningless lives than to impose their own petty wills on the rest of us.

The ban isn't for having a problem, its for allowing Alonso to leave the pits when the team KNEW the wheel wasn't on right, and subsequently not informing him of the situation on the radio.

Sounds like the wheel man panicked and instead of keeping him in the pits until it was fixed flapped and allowed him to leave.

Edit. I don't think the race stewards would jump to the conclusion that the team KNEW without some proof. I assume the fore mentioned wheel man knew it wasn't on right but didn't stop the car, hence the team knew of the problem. Maybe he admitted this later I don't know, but the stewards must have proof of some description.

Renault were penalised for deliberately flouting safety regulations by knowingly allowing an unsafe car to leave the pit.

Nothing to do with Alonso driving back on 3 wheels. Nothing to do with Massa. Everything to do with irresponsibility.

it's because it was based on what happened to Massa and also they could have avoided the whole incident as in get on the radio to alonso and tell him to pull over or tell him that the tyre is loose etc. but they didn't as a result they had a suspension. and i think that if massa's accident didn't happen i think it would be different.

It was a great Renault's negligence...