Stupidity from Canada Does Not Appy to Hamilton

Everyone who follows F1 knows that Lewis Hamilton blew the pitlane red light in Montreal and plowed into Kimi Raikkonen. Careless? Yes. Stupid? No. Nevertheless, Hamilton has paid the price in the form of ten spot grid penalty for the next race in France.

No, the people who are stupid are those Hamilton supporters and members of the press who cannot distinguish the difference between Hamiton’s mistake in Canada and Raikkonen’s mistake two weeks earlier in Monaco. Their argument essentially is that either Raikkonen should have been equally penalized or Hamilton equally exonerated for their respective accidents. They’re arguing that somehow these accidents are comparable and should be treated as such. Martin Whitmarsh went as far to say, “There was a different view taken in Monaco so we’ve got to work with what we’re given.”

Whitmarsh was equally puzzled as to why his drivers were punished at the Malaysian GP for blocking during Q3. His concerns were also shared back then by certain Hamilton supporters and members of the press.

Incredibly, these same people profess to actually be knowledgeable about autoracing. I ask, how can these people be so ignorant?

The first incident involved slow drivers on the racing line who did not make much of an attempt to get out of the way during qualifying hot laps. It is dangerous, period. In the long ago past, drivers have been killed or seriously injured under these types of circumstances. A penalty was warranted.

In the most recent incidents, Raikkonen’s accident occurred on the actual race track at race speeds. Hamilton’s accident occurred in the pitlane, under the speed limit of 80 km/h. For those who cannot distinguish between the two incidents, they must have forgotten how difficult it is to drive a proper high performance car in anger on a racetrack. It certainly ain’t no Sunday cruise with grandma. What it is, is driving on the edge where there is a fine between control and loss of control. Accidents happen.

The pitlane, although technically part of the race track, is governed by a different standard. There are fuel tanks and other equipment as well as hundreds of crew members who are exposed to danger should a car lose control in the pitlane. This is why governing bodies do their best to ensure that accidents don’t occur. This is why there are speed limits. Red lights are placed at the end of F1 pitlanes for various reasons, but they absolutely must be observed.

The only similarities between the two incidents are that Raikkonen was involved and the offending party crashed into the car in front. But this is where the similarities end. And if certain F1 followers cannot figure this out, then perhaps they should not follow F1 anymore.