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Oh ok thanks for clarifying

I agree with the five place grid penalty (although watching Hamilton and Alonso starting next to each other after whats happened would be interesting) but not with the fact that manufacturers points won't count.

It wouldn't surprise me if a "racing incident" happened between Alonso and Hamilton before the end of this years championship.

The more I see Alonso under pressure the more he reminds me of Michael Schumacher.

Yes.... I was thinking the same thing....and someone could really get hurt. I hate it! It's ruining the sport!!!!!

An interesting turn of events I can't help thinking the FIA are clinically insane However I suspect Ron Dennis and McLaren have contracted the same loony virus! I can not be a hundred percent sure about this but all I can recall about the start of the third quallifying session was that Fernando spent a whole heap of time and effort blocking Kimi. It seemed every time the cameras were showing actual cars on the track it was a shot of Kimi trying to get past Fernando. That didn't look to me like a man on mission to get an extra lap in let alone get past his teammate so that he could get that extra lap in! The claim that Lewis broke the procedural chain may be true and Alonso and dthe team changed his game plan, however surely they could have managed subsequent events more honestly or perhaps more discretely if the team really felt the need to penalise Lewis?

What all this shows us again is the travesty of the F1 qualifying setup. I don't remember anything like as much controversy during quallifying when it was just a straight forward dash for pole. The idea that by changing regulations and format in F1 can actually save money is retarded. F1 is very much like society in this respect, it will always be controlled by market forces. If there are sponsers willing to pay the teams will spend every penny they can on whatever they can. They will never ever save for a rainy day ever, even though rainy days are inevitable. There will always be teams with mountains of cash and teams with little, ergo there will never be that holy grail of a level playing field that the FIA seem to be chasing.

This season has all the makings of the best season on track in over a decade and what do they? They turn it into a political and administrative fiasco! I ask you WTF next?!!

Snowy, please don't ask wtf next !!! With the lunatics running the asylum we may well find out, to our dismay

The sanction is decided by the stewards, right?

It couldn't be a misguided attempt by the FIA to punish McLaren for their possession of Ferrari documents, is that right?

From the official FIA verdict

"Alonso was asked why he waited for some 10 seconds before leaving the pits after being given the signal to leave. His response was that he was enquiring as to whether the correct set of tyres had been fitted to his car."

It is amazing how many people quickly jump to draw comparisons between Alonso and Michael. It is almost as if some are just desparately waiting for Alonso to do something wrong to say see I told you, he isn't sportsman just like Michael (as if in a way to excuse Michael for all the trickery and taking advatange he's done in the past).

Sorry people but Alonso despite being a two time world champion hasn't in his F1 career taken anyone out, hasn't put other drivers on the grass or chopped them off, hasn't accused anyone of wanting to kill him, etc...

Yes he was angry at Massa last race but who wouldn't when you are going for the lead and someone bangs into you ?

I didn't watch qualifying but I think I have read enough. Let me first say that I do support him getting a penalty as he held up Hamilton unfairly however then comes the question of sportsmanship, well if Hamilton ignored an agreement at the start of qualifying then it is Hamilton who is unsportsman and thus Alonso got angry and retaliated by doing something that isn't acceptable but he didn't start it.

I think the situation within McLaren is getting close to unbearable. Alonso isn't getting the supports, that much is obvious. (We get very annoyed at James Allen on the coverage, imagine what its like inside a British team!!)

I just hope it can get sorted (I can't see how though) because I sure don't want to see one take the other out and the way things are going that is almost a certainty.

Amazing that despite all the success you end up in a situation where it could all go terribly wrong. Does this mean the (stupid and unfair and unsportsman) policy of Ferrari of the last several years is better, absolutely not.

(I would love to see some rain tonight )

The McLaren team have issued a statement following the stewards decision to penalise Alonso and McLaren. The statement read:

The process of managing two such exceptional talents as Fernando and Lewis is made more challenging by having a race winning car.

Every effort was made yesterday by the team to maintain our policy of equality; however in the heat of the battle there are occasions when the competitive nature of drivers sees them deviate from the agreed procedures.

During this intense and frenetic period of qualifying, decisions are necessarily made in seconds to enable the drivers and the team to position their cars on the track at the optimal moment.

We agree with the stewards, that when the team decided to hold Fernando for 20 seconds there were four cars on the circuit. However, we do not understand the relevance of this observation as the team needed to estimate where all the remaining cars would be in the final minutes of the session. Similarly the team does not agree with the statement of the stewards that the 20 second hold caused Lewis to be impeded. Tensions were undeniably high and the problem at Fernando’s first stop; the desire to enter a clear track and concerns expressed following the fitting of used tyres undoubtedly contributed to the delay in Fernando’s ultimate departure.

We do not believe that the findings of the stewards and the severe penalty imposed on the team are appropriate, and that our strenuous efforts to maintain the spirit of fair play and equality within the team have been misunderstood.

We are, however, now only hours away from an important race and are focusing all our efforts on achieving the best possible result for the drivers.

JayVee wrote:It is amazing how many people quickly jump to draw comparisons between Alonso and Michael. It is almost as if some are just desparately waiting for Alonso to do something wrong to say see I told you, he isn't sportsman just like Michael (as if in a way to excuse Michael for all the trickery and taking advatange he's done in the past).

Sorry people but Alonso despite being a two time world champion hasn't in his F1 career taken anyone out, hasn't put other drivers on the grass or chopped them off, hasn't accused anyone of wanting to kill him, etc...

Yes he was angry at Massa last race but who wouldn't when you are going for the lead and someone bangs into you ?

I didn't watch qualifying but I think I have read enough. Let me first say that I do support him getting a penalty as he held up Hamilton unfairly however then comes the question of sportsmanship, well if Hamilton ignored an agreement at the start of qualifying then it is Hamilton who is unsportsman and thus Alonso got angry and retaliated by doing something that isn't acceptable but he didn't start it.

I think the situation within McLaren is getting close to unbearable. Alonso isn't getting the supports, that much is obvious. (We get very annoyed at James Allen on the coverage, imagine what its like inside a British team!!)

I just hope it can get sorted (I can't see how though) because I sure don't want to see one take the other out and the way things are going that is almost a certainty.

Amazing that despite all the success you end up in a situation where it could all go terribly wrong. Does this mean the (stupid and unfair and unsportsman) policy of Ferrari of the last several years is better, absolutely not.

(I would love to see some rain tonight )

IMHO Schuey stands alone. Any comparisons I make between Alonso and Schuey are light- hearted, tongue in cheek.

I have only just watched qualifying as I had to record it last night due to being out at the time it was on.
I am very very surprised to find that Alonso has been handed a five place penalty. McLaren would have been far better off to just let things go and have their two drivers on P1 and P2. I agree with JayVee in regards to the team favouring Lewis. No matter how this year end it will end with much speculation of what could have/should have happened and nobody comes out of this whole fiasco smelling like roses.
I can't see that any of this is doing the sport of F1 any good.

Formation lap underway!

Air temperature at 27 degrees while track temperature is at 36 degrees.

Race start: Hamilton gets away with Raikkonen getting ahead of Heidfeld!

Order after 3 laps: Hamilton, Raikkonen, Heidfeld, Rosberg, Schumacher, Kubica, Alonso and Webber.

Alonso went wide earlier in the race and lost a place to Webber but then managed to pass Webber and Rosberg.

Hamilton leading Raikkonen by 3.3 seconds on lap 6.

Massa is down in 16th!

Yamamoto retires after spinning off!!