BAR banned ?

[Alpine Autowerks]

The FIA has asked for BAR to be excluded from this season for cheating.

http://formula1.com/news/2939.html

[habsfan]

odds are they probably won't get banned, but they'll be penalized. F1 is already weak enough as a series with only the big manufacturers beign able to field a truly competitive package. eliminating one of those manufacturers(honda) would likely be a devastating blow that the FIA could not afford to take.

[eb0i]

Originally posted by habsfan
odds are they probably won't get banned, but they'll be penalized. F1 is already weak enough as a series with only the big manufacturers beign able to field a truly competitive package. eliminating one of those manufacturers(honda) would likely be a devastating blow that the FIA could not afford to take.

I totally agree with you.

[Alpine Autowerks]

they banned toyota for a year in WRC for cheating and they blocked toyota for a year from F1 for showing up with an illegal engine. they took away MS points for a year cuz he drove like a A-hole. so there is precident for FIA playing hardball and following through.



if they have asked the court for it ...they mean it.

[habsfan]

^that is very true, the FIA has some huge cojones when it comes to banning and penalties. but you have to take into consideration the fact that F1 is quickly becoming a troubled series, what with Eccelstone hogging money and teams unhappy with many rules changes. The threat of the GPWC is a serious one, and losing a major manufacturer, and hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of fans would be absolutely disasterous.

[Alpine Autowerks]

two race ban ...could have been worse



"As well as being unable to compete in the Spanish or Monaco Grands Prix, BAR will lose the 10 points they scored in San Marino for Button’s third-place finish and Takuma Sato’s fifth-place result."

[habsfan]

definately could have been worse, too bad they won't be there for monaco, i love that race

[eb0i]

Whew! At least its only a 2 race ban. And like mentioned above me, too bad they aren't in the Monaco race, but at least BAR still has a season left.

[civic_stylez]

even though renault has been doing well this season, honda was expected to do very well in barcelona...its too bad..that new honda has so much power! 900-950 bhp!

[Bigchuckers]

The only reason BAR wont get banned is because Bernie has a clause with the TV people and race organizers that he has to have a min of 20 cars on a grid. Thats why the 107% qualifying rule got canned. So unless they can find 2 teams to run 3 cars, it really cant happen.

With Heidfeld going back to Sauber in '06, guess that means Button is gone to Williams and Ant should get his long awaited seat.

Originally posted by habsfan
but you have to take into consideration the fact that F1 is quickly becoming a troubled series, what with Eccelstone hogging money and teams unhappy with many rules changes. The threat of the GPWC is a serious one, and losing a major manufacturer, and hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of fans would be absolutely disasterous.

I have to disagree with you.

#1 F-1 isnt in trouble. It has never had this type of auto manufacture support before. TV ratings are just fine, hence why you dont hear anything in the news regarding angry netwoks. Its the most consistantly viewed organized sport in the world and they are tapping into India and China BIG time. And everyone is talking about how $$$ it is getting, yet where are the teams growing this money? There is lots of money in F-1 because people want to put money in it. The market is huge. If its too much money then pull out. You could run full factory funded teams in NASCAR, OWRS and WRC for what it costs to do a F1 team. It's not too much, just more than what they want to spend. But sponsors dont seem to mind writing the cheques...

Note the difference between CART (who is/was in real trouble) and Formula-1. Went CART went belly up it wasnt because it had companies and manufactures lining up at the door to jump onboard.

#2 Bernie made F1 what it is today. He gives each team a cheque for nearly $20-million every year. How is that greedy? Everyone is rich in F1 because of him, pure and simple. Frank Williams, Ron Dennis, Eddie Jordan, the Benetton family each have all made over $100-million US being in F-1. How many millionaires came out of F-1 before 1978?

#3 GPWC is a no go if they cant get the banks onboard. That is the ONLY way. Why would fans stop watching F-1 cause some teams decided to do it on there own? How is a race series owned by 5 auto makers going to be successful? Do you realise the costs involved to set that up? You mean to tell me these 5 companies are each going to sink tens of millions in creating a racing league to save tens of millions from being in another? LMAO!!!! The teams who will go with the GPWC are all owned by people who will be out of the sport in the next 5 years (Dennis, Williams, Sauber) or by auto makers. And auto makers are doing this for marketing. Once its mission accomplished its good night see you later. The only 3 teams sticking so far with Bernie are the new comers (Midland and Red Bull) and Ferrari. Those are the only teams in their current state that I can see will be that way *for sure* in 5 years. Reason is they are owned by racers, not businessmen. Notice Frank Williams doesnt say much and if BMW didnt have him by the balls I would bet you he would have signed the 2008 CA.

If the FIA could get rid of Max, F-1 would never be better.

[Boostn]

Originally posted by Bigchuckers

If the FIA could get rid of Max, F-1 would never be better.

[Chandler_Racing]

"On top of the two-race exclusion, BAR were given a further, suspended six-month ban, starting after the Monaco race."

A further six month ban? Maybe im reading it wrong, but does that mean the two race ban than 6 month ban in addition?

[Boostn]

No I think they meant probation, if any other irregularities are found within a one year period then they will receive an immediate 6 month ban. Damn FIA politics...

Here's a quote from one of the F1 news websites.

"The team also received a six month suspended ban, with the suspension in place for twelve months. This means that should the BAR F1 team break a rule again within the period of one year the team will be banned from the F1 championship for six months."

[Boostn]

Here's an interesting discussion on how BAR may have exploited a loophole and skirted the regulations. Using fuel as ballast is shady but rules are always open to interpretation. F1 is so competitive and engineers are constantly looking for that slight edge, could translate to tenths or more on the track:

http://forums.atlasf1.com/showthread.php?threadid=78601

[Alpine Autowerks]

using fuel as ballast is not shadey it is completely illegal

from the sporting regulation

4.2 Ballast:
Ballast can be used provided it is secured in such a way that tools are required for its removal. It must be possible to fix seals if deemed necessary by the FIA technical delegate.
eria.

the mechanics were instructed to remove the fuel from the car before scrutineering. the inspectors found more fuel and "hoovered" it out

it does not matter if they were underweight at any point in the race, the dry weight of the car was less than 600kg ...that is illegal

Honda is lucky they only got 2 races

[Bigchuckers]

The thing I find odd is the FIA have admitted they new BAR had the 2 tanks in 1 before Imola. As well they admitted most of the time they dont completely drain fuel cells for post race inspection.