Brendon Hartley has had 30 seconds added to his race time for an error on the formation lap.
The stewards ruled the Toro Rosso driver was not in the correct starting order at the Safety Car line as required by the rules. Hartley had been overtaken by Sergio Perez.
The stewards gave Hartley a 10-second stop-go penalty. As this was not applied during the race, it is converted into a 30-second time penalty.
FIA race director Charlie Whiting said it was “slightly odd” Hartley did not move back in front of Perez during the formation lap.
“It seems Hartley didn’t actually know what he had to do,” said Whiting. “On one hand Perez did overtake, but that’s fairly normal because not all cars leave the grid in the order of the grid. But Hartley hasn’t regained the position.”
The penalty drops Hartley from 13th to 17th in the final classification.
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BasCB (@bascb)
8th April 2018, 20:28
Wait, this got me confused. So did Hartley overtake Perez or did Perez overtake Hartley? And did they both get a penalty for having this happen (one for overtaking, the other for slowing so much he was overtaken)??
bosyber (@bosyber)
8th April 2018, 20:37
Yeah, it had me confused too @bascb – so, both got a penalty, even though it was, by my reading, Perez who overtook Hartley, but I guess Hartley then didn’t do much to re-take that position on time?
Chrill
8th April 2018, 20:34
What, they both get a penalty? Sounds a whole lot like Perez overtook Hartley when he shouldn’t’ve. Why penalise the victim?
Fzrniko (@fzrniko)
8th April 2018, 20:42
So who gives flippity-floo? It’s a formation lap? What kind of archaic, controlling, ball-busting rule is that? So long as you like up correctly for start, who cares?
Fzrniko (@fzrniko)
8th April 2018, 20:43
And it was Perez’ fault anyhow. Everybody knows what kind of a duma$$ Perez can be. He’ll even crash his own teammate.
Markp
8th April 2018, 21:05
Ridiculous. It had no impact on the race. Hamilton v Max was a racing incident but involved a coming together. This is just nothing. Hartley is punished the same as the car that overtook him for being confused and not going back past in time? They lined up on the grid correctly.
Fzrniko (@fzrniko)
8th April 2018, 21:06
Sry to hear a dead horse, but a 30 sec penalty is pretty serious. I would think someone somewhere would have notified either driver to get back in line before a penalty is applied. In football, receivers get “advised” by refs if they’re lined up offsides as a courtesy before a flag is thrown. Just dumb.
kris
8th April 2018, 21:26
you’d think his pit wall might have told him of this so he could have sorted it at the time, or take the 10 second penalty in the race.
As it was I thought the 10 second penalty he got for spinning perez on the first lap was harsh, I thought first lap incidents are looked at with a grain of salt. If Vettel had done that last year it would have been a racing incident, Hartley does on the 4th corner (or whatever it was), with a locked wheel, so not as if he wasn’t trying to hit Perez, and he gets a penalty.
FIA need to learn some consistency, still.
John H (@john-h)
8th April 2018, 21:33
This seems like a massive overreaction for both drivers. Maybe Charlie thinks he’s making a statement or something as this won’t affect the zero race points. Very strange, seems like both drivers should just get a reprimand.
Not like driving through waved yellows at full pace, which a couple of years back also got the same penalty. Or Vettel’s Baku driving for example. Very odd.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
8th April 2018, 22:21
Did they really start the race from the wrong spots on the grid? I’m sorry but if that happened, that’s Charlie’s fault… He’s in charge of race control. He should be getting a penalty more than anyone else out there.
It also destroyed Hartley’s race because Perez ended up being in front of Hartley and taking the entire corner so he may want to shell some free points over to Hartley while he’s at it…
roodda (@roodda)
8th April 2018, 23:54
A reprimand, or a small fine, would have sufficed. This is heavy-handed and why on earth is Hartley getting pinged? This is a dangerous precedent. If you were in a world championship fight, and the guy beside you needed a great result (you, less so) to beat you for the championship, you could just overtake him on the formation lap to ensure he gets a 30sec penalty.
faulty (@faulty)
9th April 2018, 5:27
Hear, hear.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
9th April 2018, 1:51
Ugh, a reprimand and a warning that future instances will be penalized would have been more appropriate.
kpcart
9th April 2018, 4:09
Hartley is too slow! Even on formation laps it seems.
Potsie (@potsie159)
9th April 2018, 14:04
This appears to me to be a strange decision by the stewards, and an incorrect one.
The regulations state at 36.8:
“36.8 Overtaking during the formation lap is only permitted if a car is delayed and cars behind
cannot avoid passing it without unduly delaying the remainder of the field. In this case, drivers
may only overtake to re-establish the original starting order. Any driver delayed in this way,
and who is unable to re-establish the original starting order before he reaches the first safety
car line, must enter the pit lane and start from the end of the pit lane as specified in Article
36.2.
A penalty under Article 38.3(d) will be imposed on any driver who fails to enter the pit lane if
he has not re-established the original starting order before he reaches the first safety car line. ”
I just re-watched the commencement of the formation lap and Perez passed Hartley before turn one, and there was no need for Sergio to do that in order to “…[cannot] avoid passing it without unduly delaying the remainder of the field”. Sergio Perez could quite easily have not passed Brendon Hartley without delaying the remainder of the field in any way. In actuality, the McLaren that was closest behind Sergio was about 100 meters behind when he passed Hartley. Therefore, Brendon was not “delayed in this way”, but rather, he was delayed by Sergio Perez just breaking the requirements of 36.8 itself. It follows that the the ‘may’ of “…In this case, drivers
may only overtake to re-establish the original starting order” did not apply to Brendon Hartley.
The way I read the wording of 36.8 as Brendon was not delayed in the way that the rule allows others to pass him, there is/was no requirement for him to start from pit lane. I believe the Stewards have made an error.
Confused.
Potsie (@potsie159)
9th April 2018, 14:18
Further, if Charlie really did say whats quoted to him:
“It seems Hartley didn’t actually know what he had to do,” said Whiting. “On one hand Perez did overtake, but that’s fairly normal because not all cars leave the grid in the order of the grid. But Hartley hasn’t regained the position.”
..then he is essentially saying that 36.8 is not complied with on a regular basis (‘…Perez did overtake, but that’s fairly normal…’), so why this weird ruling now ???? The penalty to Perez should have sufficed.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
9th April 2018, 19:12
Everyone hates Hartley. The guy can’t catch a break.