The ten second penalty awarded to Raikkonen after he crashed against Hamilton at the British Grand Prix has re-opened the debate about the perceived lack of consistency regarding Formula 1 sanctions.

It was the first lap of the British GP at Silverstone last Sunday when Kimi Raikkonen, from Ferrari, crashed against the back right side of Hamilton’s Mercedes. The Briton was sent off-track and to the bottom of the pack as a result, from where he started a spectacular comeback. Hamilton finished in second place and Kimi was given a ten second penalty, which he served at his pit stop.

The controversy

Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve has declared to be convinced that if Raikkonen had crashed against Bottas instead of Hamilton, his penalty would have been much more lenient. He further argues that sanctions in Formula one are often circumstantial: “They decided that it’s Lewis, we’re in the UK, he’s fighting for the championship, that’s worth 10 seconds.”

To illustrate his point he brings up the case of Vettel two weeks before, who received a five second penalty for tagging Bottas at the French GP. There is also the case of Verstappen in Austria who was given no penalty whatsoever for doing the same to Raikkonen.

BBC columnist and former Renault driver Joylon Palmer is also said to be frustrated by this lack of consistency and calls for penalties to be less arbitrary. Palmer says not to understand what’s the criteria being used to decide how similar incidents are given a harsher or lighter punishment: “It is fair enough to deem Raikkonen at fault for the incident but I just can’t get my head around the penalty given to him – 10 seconds, when in my view Vettel’s clash with Bottas in France was slightly worse.”

Both Palmer and Villeneuve agree that this type of incidents should be evaluated strictly for what they are, regardless of their consequences or of who is involved.

Pierre Gasly has also joined in the cry against the arbitrary nature of sanctions after he himself was given a five-second penalty after the British GP for his crash with Sergio Perez: “Every weekend there are contacts with no further action, that’s part of racing & what makes it exciting! Was a close battle, I enjoyed it. Just let us race and stop all this bull**** with penalties! Will keep fighting.”

By T.C. – Photo: www.formula1.com