Ralf wrecked into Ruben's who wrecked into my hero Kimi Raikkonen adn ruined Kimi's chance for the title basically. Ralf was handed a 10 place penalty on the starting grid at the next race.

I watched the GP also. But can the officials give a penalty to Ralf, even though it was a mistake??? That sounds a little bizarre to me.

yeah the penalty was stiff.. it was his error but it was still harsh. I was just mad they did not do a restart so Kimi and other scould at least race today.

Ralf admitted that he wasn't really paying attention to what everyone else was doing. He did swerve left into Barrichello, regardless of the fact that B. was pinched in by Raikkonen... It's a stiff penalty, and I certainly don't think Ralph intended to cause mayhem, but I think they're sending a message that this was avoidable and that you can't drive like you the only one on the track.

Hey, before I forget, HOW ABOUT EDITING THE SPOILER OUT OF THE THREAD SUBJECT!?!?! And add (SPOILER) to it if the thread contains spoilers, which it does... How many times do we have to tell people? :complain

Let's see if they allow cross-site linking:

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Sucks for Ralf, esp after the blistering pace he set in sectors 1 and 2 of qualifying on Saturday. I was all set for an interesting RS - JPM duel, and likewise between Kimi and MS. The FIA was way too harsh in penalizing Ralf for what is essentially a 'racing incident' :complain . How on earth could he have known that Barrichello was trapped in, and had no maneuvering space - wasn't like he edged him off the track. Williams is going to appeal, I just hope it comes through.

Would have been cool if MS's tyre had held up...too bad.

Kimi was the big loser in it all.. 2nd or 3rd for him today would have him up there with Schumacher for the lead. Instead he is all but out now.

All in all, I think it was an exciting race. Even though Montoya basically remained in first through the entire race, the opening moments were "exciting". Being a Williams-BMW fan myself, I usually am behind Ralph because I think Montoya is an asshole. However, I like good competition in a race and it was disappointing that we had to lose so many racers, including Kimi (who had so much to gain this race), Ralph, and Barrichello.

The bright side of this though is Williams and Ferrari are very close in the standings as well as their flagship drivers. Very disappointing though towards the end of the race to see MS's tire punctured after he we would have been able to get second place. As a relatively new fan of F1, I'm already looked forward to the next Grand Prix :alright

P.S. Sure beats NASCAR :redspot

i am glad kimi and rubens got knocked out. williams is 2 points off the constructors championship and JPM is 2cnd in the championship standings. to bad ralf couldn't stay in the race and get some more points.
shit happens

Originally posted by Raikkonen
Ralf wrecked into Ruben's who wrecked into my hero Kimi Raikkonen adn ruined Kimi's chance for the title basically. Ralf was handed a 10 place penalty on the starting grid at the next race.

I hate to insult your god and all, but if you actually watched that wreck, Kimi came up way offline on the outside and ended up causing that wreck.

He should be the one penalized, not Ralf.

-Charlie

I don't really think anyone was at fault, it was just a racing incident. It happens, that's why it's called RACING.

Kimi has a great start and was offline to the left of Rubens, but that's what you do when you get a great start. If Kimi wasn't there, when Ralf went for a better racing line, Rubens could have moved, but Ralf couldn't know that. So he inadvertently caused a large wreck.

It's racing...

Originally posted by TheBestCow
I don't really think anyone was at fault, it was just a racing incident. It happens, that's why it's called RACING.

Kimi has a great start and was offline to the left of Rubens, but that's what you do when you get a great start. If Kimi wasn't there, when Ralf went for a better racing line, Rubens could have moved, but Ralf couldn't know that. So he inadvertently caused a large wreck.

It's racing... exactly. thats why I don't agree with the penalty on ralf. From the replays, ralf did not jump across the track to get a better line. He gradually moved over. Doesn't seem too fair to slam ralf with the penalty.

Ralf was penalized? What was it? I'd say it was a racing incident and when the quarters are so close, and the adrenaline is so high, those types of incidents will happen. Awesome crash though.

Great race. And MS getting a flat was perfect timing. I wonder how that happened.

ya ralf was penalized 10 places the next race...

Originally posted by Glenn 328is
And MS getting a flat was perfect timing. I wonder how that happened.

Michael's flat probably came from his 4-wheels-off-the-track-(illegal)-pass on J. Trulli, he went "off track" but it was still paved, but all the marbles off the tires and junk on the track get to that side of the track, so I'd guess he got into a bunch of it and something just cut his precious little Bridgestone's up :D

One more post-crash image they posted....

"Yep, a little Bondo will fix that right up."

http://eur.news1.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/xp/crashnet/20030804/21/2581342323.jpg

Glad that Kimi only had very minor injuries from this. Ralf and the Williams team are appealing the penalty ruling, by the way.

"Would have been cool if MS's tyre had held up...too bad."

I don't agree, it sounds unfair but I'm glad it happened. Williams has a chance now :buttrock

stjobs

I'm almost afraid to post here since I have been a Ferrari fan since I was a kid. But IMO both ralf and kimi where to blame(just a little), and rubens got the short end of the stick. I wouldn't call it intentional, just racing. The penalty is way to harsh. I have seen worse with only a stop and go penalty given to the offender.

lol do be afraid to post an opinion. You're right though about Ruben getting sandwiched. His great luck prevailed once again.

I agree that the penalty is a little harsh, but Ralf should have checked his mirrors before moving over like that.

The race is a little foggy at this point, but didn't Kimi go off the track to get around Rubens? I think that should have been seen as causing the accident just as much as Ralf's move into Rubens...

Get rid of traction control!:az: