The penalty might be harsh, but the loss of Lewis Hamilton’s pole in Spain is just the latest calamitous mistake by McLaren.

That was the tone of the paddock’s reaction to the news late on Saturday that a McLaren gaffe saw the FIA send Hamilton from first to last on the Spanish grand prix grid.

The Sun newspaper called it a draconian “24-place grid penalty” imposed by the FIA after an “astonishing cock-up” by McLaren.

Hamilton was told on the radio to pull over after his pole lap due to a “technical problem”.

Sporting director Sam Michael argued ‘force majeure’, but the stewards ruled that it had been entirely McLaren’s fault that not enough fuel was put into Hamilton’s car to ensure a scrutineering fuel sample.

Writing in the Telegraph, Tom Cary said the severity of the disqualification “raised eyebrows”, but agreed that “McLaren’s mistake was horrendous”.

He said it has been “a season of errors” by the famous British team, who are yet to get Hamilton’s signature on a new contract beyond 2012.

“Hamilton must be seething,” read an article in the Daily Mail newspaper, while The Times laid out McLaren’s “catalogue of errors”.

27-year-old Hamilton’s “raw talent is being thwarted by mishap and cock-up,” said journalist Kevin Eason.

“McLaren are lovely people but how the hell do they get themselves in this position?” wrote the Mirror’s Byron Young on Twitter.

Even the non-English language media agreed.

“It was another great mistake by McLaren that could eventually cost Hamilton the championship,” wrote Livio Oricchio in O Estado de S.Paulo.

Italy’s La Stampa called McLaren’s fuel gaffe a case of “harakiri”.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport added: “It was error number 13 for McLaren since last year”.

While highly critical of McLaren’s own-goal, however, the feeling in the paddock is that the stewards’ penalty – although accepted by McLaren – was overly harsh.

“Back of the grid? Way, way too harsh”, said the Mirror’s Young on Twitter.

“Draconian penalty in my view,” agreed PA Sport’s Ian Parkes. “Dropping Q3 time would have sufficed.”

Sky commentator Martin Brundle added: “(I) feel they should have deleted that (Q3) laptime only which would have put him sixth”.

And excluding Hamilton from Q3 altogether would have put him 11th. Now, he will be “lucky to score a point”, Auto Motor und Sport predicted.

In the Independent, however, David Tremayne noted: “Welcome to the draconian world of F1.”

David Croft, the lead Sky commentator, said the FIA stewards had acted correctly.

“A good rule should be one that covers all eventualities with a penalty that acts as a deterrent which in this case is what happened.

“Too little fuel can’t be tolerated,” he added. “It seems harsh but had Lewis taken pole by one thousandth of a second, would it be harsh then?”

The Spanish fans – not Hamilton’s biggest supporters dating back to his spats with Fernando Alonso in 2007 – were happy.

Asked on the El Mundo website whether the penalty was fair, 76 per cent answered yes.

Christian Horner on Sunday said he thinks Red Bull will be better next weekend in Hungary.
Championship leader Sebastian Vettel ended his 15-race run of front row berths at the Nurburgring, while pole sitter Mark Webber was the team’s best finisher with third.

“Yes, it’s been interesting,” said team boss Horner, referring to Fernando Alonso’s win at Silverstone two weeks ago, and Lewis Hamilton’s in Germany.

“It’s been Ferrari one race, the next McLaren — and the constant factor is Red Bull. Hopefully now we’ll get a few tracks that should be good for us,” he told German Sky television.

Confirmed Australian Webber: “The car should go ok in Budapest. It should be better than this track for us.”

In post-race news, Sebastien Buemi has been handed a five-place grid penalty for Hungary for his crash with Nick Heidfeld.

But there is also bad news for German Heidfeld, who will have to hand over his Renault to test driver Bruno Senna on Friday morning at the Hungaroring.

Meanwhile, Alonso will keep his second place on Sunday despite fears his stricken Ferrari might not have contained the mandatory one litre of fuel for the scrutineering checks.

And he has also not been penalised for hitching what he described as a “taxi” ride back to parc ferme on his friend Webber’s Red Bull engine cover.

“They are friends and it would have been a long walk back,” grinned Horner.

Lewis Hamilton will not be taking a five-place grid penalty in Korea next weekend, his team boss Martin Whitmarsh has confirmed.

The McLaren driver moved five places down the Suzuka grid due to an unscheduled gearbox change before qualifying, and he then finished the Japanese race without third gear that further dented his fading championship hopes.

It is believed a dog-ring failed in Hamilton’s replaced gearbox, but Whitmarsh said in Japan that he was “confident” it could be fixed without incurring another five-place penalty for Korea.

But he also told reporters at Suzuka that the second issue would not be a problem for Korea, despite the new gearbox potentially not lasting the mandatory four races.

“We’ve taken the penalty for this weekend so we have a free gearbox change for the next race,” said Whitmarsh.

On Friday in a team statement, the Briton moved to clarify the issue.

“Lewis will not face a second successive five-place grid penalty” in Korea, said Whitmarsh.

“The gearbox regulations were framed to ensure teams weren’t penalised twice for the same gearbox issue, so Lewis will go into the weekend without risk of further penalty,” he added.

McLaren is confident it can avoid Lewis Hamilton receiving a grid penalty for the forthcoming Korean grand prix.

The Briton moved five places down the Suzuka grid due to an unscheduled gearbox change before qualifying, and he finished the Japanese race without third gear that further dented his fading championship hopes.

“I didn’t think the car would make it — it was making a lot of strange noises,” said Hamilton, who finished in fifth place.

“The championship doesn’t look great at the moment,” admitted the 25-year-old, who is now 28 points behind Mark Webber’s lead.

Initial analysis of the latest gearbox problem by the team in the Suzuka garage is a dog-ring failure.

Said team boss Martin Whitmarsh: “We’re confident it can be resolved for Korea without incurring a five-place grid penalty.

“For the final three races, we’ve got to make sure we have 100 per cent reliability.

“We’ll keep on pushing and developing this car.  There’s no reason why we can’t be fighting for the championship in Abu Dhabi,” he insisted.

Mark Webber finished second in Sunday’s Japanese grand prix but still moved another step towards winning the 2010 world championship.

At Suzuka, the Australian finished a second behind his Red Bull teammate – the pole sitter and winner Sebastian Vettel – but because Fernando Alonso finished third, Webber extends his lead to 14 points with just three races left to run.

That handy points margin for Webber is over both Ferrari’s Alonso and Vettel, who are level-pegging on 206 points.

“The last two races were a little bit difficult for us but we came here with quite some confidence,” said the delighted Vettel, who also won from pole in 2009.

“This track is kind of made for us.”

Lewis Hamilton drops from third in the championship to fourth, after a nightmare weekend topped off by another gearbox problem that caused him to lose pace and voluntarily yield fourth place in the race to his teammate Jenson Button.

Briton Hamilton is now 28 points behind and faces another five-place grid drop in Korea if his gearbox needs to be replaced again.

Button in the sister car is a further three points adrift, but team boss Martin Whitmarsh is not giving up.

“We’re still pushing hard.  Anything can happen, it’s that close a championship,” said the McLaren chief on BBC television.

After crashing out of the consecutive Italian and Singapore grands prix, Lewis Hamilton has vowed a different approach to the remaining races in 2010.

Before his terminal crash into Felipe Massa at Monza, and then Mark Webber last Sunday, the McLaren driver was considered a favourite for the world championship.

But he is now 20 points adrift with four – or three, depending on embattled Korea’s fate – races to go.

“I’ve changed my attitude,” he said in an interview with Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper.

“I’m not looking at the world championship any more.  I will try to win the next races but above all I want to enjoy my racing,” added the Briton.

Hamilton’s new attitude may also be explained by the nature of the forthcoming races, with Red Bull and Ferrari expected to set the pace at Suzuka next weekend.

“The types of corners (at Suzuka) will be most favourable to Red Bull,” Ferrari test driver Marc Gene wrote in his El Mundo column.

“It wouldn’t surprise me to see them better than the rest and very difficult to beat.  But we will have improvements so you can’t rule us out for the win,” added the Spaniard.

While Ferrari has undoubtedly closed the gap to Red Bull, Sebastian Vettel said recently that the Japanese venue was so suitable for the RB6 that it seems John Hugenholtz “made Suzuka for us”.

“And all the other tracks should suit our car as well.  Korea is the only unknown one, but that’s the same for everyone,” the German told Bild newspaper.

McLaren’s Jenson Button, now the lowest-ranked of the five contenders and 25 points behind leader Webber, said before returning to the UK for simulation tests: “Hopefully Korea goes ahead.”

Another concern for Ferrari is engine usage, given that if Fernando Alonso needs to fit another unit before the Abu Dhabi finale, he will take a ten-place grid penalty.

“There is no reason to think too much about it,” a Ferrari engineer is quoted by El Pais newspaper.

“In Singapore Fernando used an engine that had already done two races,” he explained, adding that the difference between a new and old engine is “not much more” than 2 horse power.

Felipe Massa’s engine usage for the 2010 season ticked over to a ninth unit in Singapore, resulting in a grid penalty.

That news alone could be interpreted as a potential threat to the title chances of his teammate Fernando Alonso, who is now just 11 points behind leader Mark Webber having won the past two races from pole.

Like Massa, Spaniard Alonso entered the Singapore round having used eight engines, the maximum allowed during the entire 19-race schedule this year.

But Brazilian Massa’s ninth engine was only installed in Singapore due to his technical problem in qualifying that stranded him at the very rear of the grid.

The necessary gearbox change resulted in a five-place grid drop, but Massa could not be pushed down the order lower than dead last.

So the Italian team also decided to install a new engine in his F10 – resulting in another negated grid penalty, this time 10 places – before the race.

A spokesman for the Italian team confirmed that the change was “entirely precautionary”.

Massa said: “Now I only have three left which have each done one race, to rotate over the last four races of the season.”

Felipe Massa’s engine usage for the 2010 season ticked over to a ninth unit in Singapore, resulting in a grid penalty.
That news alone could be interpreted as a potential threat to the title chances of his teammate Fernando Alonso, who is now just 11 points behind leader Mark Webber having won the past two races from pole.

Like Massa, Spaniard Alonso entered the Singapore round having used eight engines, the maximum allowed during the entire 19-race schedule this year.

But Brazilian Massa’s ninth engine was only installed in Singapore due to his technical problem in qualifying that stranded him at the very rear of the grid.

The necessary gearbox change resulted in a five-place grid drop, but Massa could not be pushed down the order lower than dead last.

So the Italian team also decided to install a new engine in his F10 – resulting in another negated grid penalty, this time 10 places – before the race.

A spokesman for the Italian team confirmed that the change was “entirely precautionary”.

Massa said: “Now I only have three left which have each done one race, to rotate over the last four races of the season.”

From the perspective of spare fresh engines in the bank, championship leader Mark Webber has an advantage in the five-race run to the 2010 finale.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa have each used their full allocation of eight engines for the season, meaning that if they need to use more engines in 2010, they will incur ten-place grid penalties.

“We preferred to use a new engine at Monza and then manage the mileage for the next five races,” team boss Stefano Domenicali is quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have used 7 engines apiece, so they each have a spare engine in the bag.

“The McLaren drivers (are a threat) because they look to have a bit more reliability up their sleeve with engines, and we don’t know what’s going to go on at the end of the year,” Webber said in an interview with BBC Sport.

Also having used 7 engines so far are the Mercedes, Force India, Toro Rosso, HRT, Virgin and Lotus drivers, Williams’ Nico Hulkenberg and Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi.

Sebastian Vettel has a spare Renault engine in the bank, but Webber has two fresh engines still to fit in the rear of his RB6.

“Singapore should suit us if Monaco is anything to go by,” said the Australian, who won that famous street race in May.

“We’ve seen performance move around a little bit – not much – against the form card but on paper the next few circuits look like they should be good for us,” added Webber.

Also with two spare engines left are the works Renault drivers, and Williams’ Rubens Barrichello.

Sauber’s Pedro de la Rosa, meanwhile, ran out of engines in Belgium last month, forcing him ten places down the grid after a ninth Ferrari unit was installed.

Nick Heidfeld is now taking over car number 22, meaning that if a tenth engine needs to be fitted at any of the five remaining races this season, it will be the German serving a grid penalty.

It is Mercedes’ fault that Michael Schumacher has so far failed to step onto the podium during his 2010 return to formula one.

That is the opinion of Bernie Ecclestone, who said he is nonetheless happy that the seven time world champion decided to end his three-year retirement this season.

“If Michael would be sitting in a Red Bull, I would put my money on him,” the F1 chief executive told Sport Bild. “Then he would certainly win.”

Schumacher confirmed: “Let’s put it this way — with a Red Bull things would definitely be very different.”

Even though it has not been a success in terms of results, Ecclestone describes the 41-year-old’s return to F1 as “super, perfect”.

“We have had huge media coverage because of Michael. Thanks to him again! I admire him for making this step.”

After his duel with Rubens Barrichello against the Hungaroring pitwall before the August break, Schumacher heads into his favourite race at Spa this weekend with a ten-place grid penalty.

But the German insists he is already focused on next year.

“I still have my goal of winning another world title,” said Schumacher. “I accept that it’s going to take time and that it’s a hard challenge.”

And Ecclestone defends Schumacher against the criticism that, with a record 91 wins in his first career, he is now not good enough to beat his young teammate Nico Rosberg.

“When people tell me that Rosberg is faster than Michael, I say to them that it’s Nico with something still to prove, not Michael,” said the Briton.

Christian Horner is not ruling out a five-place grid penalty for Sebastian Vettel in Valencia.

Vettel’s Red Bull teammate Mark Webber lost his front-row starting place in Canada due to needing a precautionary gearbox change prior to the race.

And Vettel finished the Montreal race with a different gearbox problem, meaning that if it needs to be changed at Valencia during its four-race life, the German will also be penalised.

According to a report in the Cologne publication Express, there is a possibility the Montreal gearbox is damaged.

Horner is quoted as saying Vettel’s problem in Canada was “an oil leakage”.

But as for whether the gearbox will be changed, the team’s British boss added: “We must look into that.”
(GMM)