Oliver White
Nick Heidfeld has had his final fast lap compromised by other drivers on the track during the third phase of qualifying for tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix. As the rest of the field had set their hot laps earlier in the session, Nick Heidfeld started his final run just as the others went into fuel-save mode. The result meant Heidfeld was forced to dangerously weave around the other competitors who remained on the racing line.
The fact that Heidfeld had to move off-line to pass and weave in and out should mean that those offending drivers be hauled up in front of the stewards and penalised. Among those who remained on the racing line was fourth placed driver Lewis Hamilton and third placed driver and team mate Heikki Kovalainen.
The issue came about because the cars go into the third phase of qualifying with race-fuel levels, and as soon as each driver completes his fast lap he backs off to conserve as much fuel as possible. This allows for a longer first stint in the race and saves time on pitstops because less fuel has to be pumped into the car.
But this race-fuel system has now been shown to actually cause unnecessary danger to other drivers as well as adding an extra complexity to the proceedings that isn’t needed. Nick Heidfeld was at full tilt and at one point it is clear from the TV cameras the German was forced off-line to pass two cars before struggling to get back on to the racing line before the corner.
Nick Heidfeld qualified seventh for tomorrow’s race, one second off Felipe Massa’s pace. Importantly though, Nick is only 0.15s shy of Kovalainen in third, such is the close competitiveness of this group at the moment.
I expect BMW will be rather vocal in their complaints and rightly so. The situation Heidfeld found himself in was dangerous, completely unneccessary and compromised his final run. Unfortunately, I doubt that the stewards will want to penalise such a large number of drivers, so I expect there will merely be some sabre-rattling before qualifying next race.
I agree with Kris – unlikely to see penalties especially as Hamilton was among the guilty parties. If Lewis has held up Alonso as well then expect maximum attack from Renault too 😉
I don’t think this kind of thing is necessarily unique to running race fuel levels though – the final in lap of qualifying has always been a slow affair I think, it’s just that normally everyone’s flying lap is completed at roughly the same time.
Drivers should be forced to drive at a decent pace (and definitely stay off the racing line) while the session is still “active” though.
We shall await news from the stewards with baited breath!
Thanks for commenting guys. I don’t think they’ll be penalties either, but I do feel that the race-fuel nonsense contributes to this. Had the cars not been fuelled for the race, they wouldn’t have slowed down quite as much. Staying on the racing line was just bad manners I thought.
Nick Heidfeld has stated he’s pretty annoyed, and Mark Blundell is backing BMW, saying that it was unacceptable.
[…] grid positions is great for the Swiss-German team, both drivers appeared to struggle at times. Nick Heidfeld’s final run was severely compromised by other drivers on the circuit and it is expected for BMW to complain to the stewards. I’ll […]
It felt really unfair that people who are on fast laps are slowed down by people cruising back to the pits. We really do need the rules against slow or erratic drivers extended to all situations, not just covering safety cars and red-flag situations.
Both McLaren drivers are under investigation for baulking both Heidfeld and Alonso. I’m somewhat surprised – I was expecting about six drivers to be called in front of the stewards.
And so it is: http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=34263
McLaren drivers are penalized 5 places each. Kovi down to P8, Hammy down to P9.
Yup, should be interesting tomorrow. But that penalty won’t mean as much if it does rain during the race. If it stays dry, though, expect to see a Trulli train.
[…] lap, was forced to weave in and out of other cars, compromising his line and ruining his lap time (videos here). The penalty for both drivers is five grid slots, demoting Hamilton to ninth and Kovalainen to […]
The start is going to be really exciting now, big chance of one or other McLaren being involved in an incident or two.
It’s going to be very interesting having LH and Alon(sob!)so near to each other..
[…] The incident can only really be described as ridiculous and dangerous. The videos and article can be viewed via this link, but needless to say Thiessen is backed by an awful lot of […]
[…] the changes made to qualifying after the incident that occurred at the Malaysian Grand Prix. In Sepang two weeks ago, Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen had completed their hot laps before the end of the third […]