Penalty shows new FIA system works - Alonso
Rules are rules declares Felipe Massa
11/09/08 10:33
Fernando Alonso believes the decision to strip Lewis Hamilton of his Belgian Grand Prix victory shows the FIA was right to overhaul the stewarding system for 2008.
In many expert observers' eyes, Hamilton's penalty for an apparently illegal pass near the end of the Spa Francorchamps race a week ago was evidence of either the FIA's incompetence or, worse, a pro-Ferrari bias.
But Hamilton's former McLaren team-mate Alonso believes that, for the first time, all infractions are now being dealt with consistently at races.
"The FIA decided to change (the system) after several big scandals of the past seasons," he told reporters in Madrid this week."
"This year, if you do something wrong, you pay. I touched a painted line in Valencia and I got a 10,000 Euros fine."
"The decision to change was done with very good judgement, because in the past four of five years, there were always surprises. You never knew what they were going to do," he said.
Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, meanwhile - the beneficiary of the Hamilton penalty - dismisses suggestions that the incident will discourage drivers to make risky overtaking moves.
"It is true that for good races you need good overtaking," the Brazilian told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
"But there is overtaking and then there's overtaking," he continued, explaining that after cutting the chicane, he believes Hamilton continued to use the advantage to immediately re-pass Kimi Raikkonen.
"He did not have the patience to wait for another corner and try again," Massa continued, "and the rules say he should be penalised."
