The F1 Pit Box

I'm glad I'm not a Formula One race steward, they must need better security than George Bush!  Following the tedium in Valencia, Spa was an exciting weekend's racing, culminating in one of the best final two laps of an Grand Prix I've ever seen; what a shame no one will remember it, thanks to a harsh penalty given out post-race which rendered the final laps irrelevant.

The incident in question is simply explained: Hamilton cut the chicane at the end of the lap, gained an advantage, didn't give enough back to Raikkonen and was punished.  Watching the replays this cannot be denied except by the most dogged F1 conspiracist.  The 25-second addition takes Hamilton back to third position and is about 20 seconds too many for the advantage he gained to be realistic, it's not even as if he made no attempt to back off.

I don't believe all this Ferrari influence rubbish, it's the murmurings of the immature for the most part, but McLaren certainly took their fair share of strict punishments at Spa, as Heikki's drive-through was equally over the top for his clumsy accident.  With Raikkonen receiving no penalty for his Monaco crash and Massa's fine for his Valencia pit problems, why similar couldn't have been done here I'm not sure.  

Regardless of whether it was case of using a sledgehammer when a push would've done, Hamilton needed some form of penalty for the incident, but this was too much.  All it has done is insight the hatred of Ferrari even more (even though they claim they never complained) and will again, decrease the worldwide respect of the sport.  A 2009 overhaul of the penalties would be wise, and the creation of a standard set so no-one can be surprised when the time comes makes sense too.  The only positive take is the championship is even more exciting now just two points separate Hamilton and Massa, who Ferrari simply must support.  

Otherwise, racing at Spa was as brilliant as usual, with Toro Rosso giving a brilliant performance all weekend.  Those final laps as the rain started to fall were something special though, and if anything, I wish Heidfeld and Alonso had swapped their boots for Intermediates a lap earlier, then we would have had a very different result altogether!  It's going to be chaos at Monza, have no doubt!