Sanctions for Schumacher & Alonso?

[Ann]

I hear that the FIA may be investigating Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso following their crashes under yellow flags in Brazil.

There is obvious concern that marshals lives could be endangered if drivers do not take sufficient care when they are on the track recovering another vehicle.

If any action is taken it is not expected to affect Alonso's third place.

[John]

Yep I saw that story as well. Seems fair enough - yellow flags are there for a reason and if they are ignored the results can be pretty bad - if MS had gone off at a slightly different angle or if the marshalls were slower in getting out of the way then there'd have been a worse incident than we saw.

Some might say a race ban is a bit harsh and unlikely but remember 1997 and Jaques Villeneuve? Presumable if there are anymore violations by MS and/or Alonso this season then there may be a ban on the cards.

[Les]

I said at the time that I was furious with Alonso's comments about his speed even though he had seen the flags. It's bad enough he risked his own life but he also risked the marshall's and the other drivers who had been in the accident.

To be honest he should be docked time and made an example of and if that means he loses third place then so be it.

[Paul Rayner]

I think with Alonso, he admitted that he was trying to make up time in yellow flags, which is clearly wrong, so a penalty could be applied.

With Schumacher though, I don't think it's the same. Martin Brundle made the very good point that it's very difficult to know what to do in those conditions. Brundle said that, in the wet, if you're slow then you lose downforce and therefore have less grip, so are more likely to spin off, but if you're faster then you get more grip. It's a difficult balance to find, but Michael just got it wrong. The corner was changing every lap, and two people had already been caught out on it at that particular time, and Michael just did as well.

[The Stig]

Alonso and Schumi' both had conversations this weekend with the F1 heirarchy. Understand they both know where they stand for next time. Given the fact that two marshalls have tragically lost their lives recently, Australia and Monza I believe, is there any truth in the rumours that criminal proceedings may follow,
if a third tragedy occurs. Should drivers or indeed teams, stand trial for alleged negligence in these situations. Schumi' might have maimed one of the crew recovering a previous wreck mightn't he at Interlagos. I think back to the high profile case with Williams F1 in Bologna following the sad passing of Ayrton Senna.

[speedy]

It depends on the laws of the country. Back in '94, in the wet in Japan (where the conditions were much the same as Brazil), Martin Brundle himself aquaplaned off the track and collided with a marshal who was attending to a previously crashed car, and broke the marshals leg.

I dont think there was legal action there, although there might have been some sort of whipround for the marshals recuperation.

Im surprised that Schumacher had to face the officials, considering the state of that part of the track there. Anyone could have gone off (as was proved), and Michael wasn't trying to overtake someone in the middle of it!