Russell Jaslow
Registered User
Not really sure what AlphaTauri is doing other than bowing down to the boss.
But WRT the engine penalties- seems to me if they really want to crack down on engine repeats, then there needs to be a progressive penalty that holds over to following races. So if you get a 25 grid spot penalty (which has happened), that should be X to the rear with 25-X going to the next races. The rules right now is when you get to 15 grid position penalties, you start from the back- and then it does not matter how many more you get. There are 7 powertrain elements with restrictions, 6 of them have season limits of 2 or 3- so it's quite likely that the teams that did the changes all had +20 grid spot penalties.
And then the next powertrain changes should double the grid spot penalty (triple for third). The ONLY excuse for not having that is if an accident destroys an engine. Right now, the penalties are the opposite- 10 grid spots for the first time an element is changed, 5 the next.
Right, repeated engine penalties actually decline. This was discussed last year when people thought it was ridiculous. But the reason the rule is like that is because the FIA didn't want to destroy the lower budgeted teams in that they would always start so far back, never having a chance to score points, and thus never having a chance to earn money at the end of the year. This was before the budget cap, so maybe it's time to revisit that rule.
Before that rule, remember a few years ago when Alonso once had a like a 100+ grid penalty? The joke was he was going to have to start from his own driveway.