Mercedes Red Bull vs. Schumacher
26.06.2012
D as the verdict came at 7:11 pm. Three hours and 25 minutes after crossing the finish line. When Michael Schumacher splashed champagne on the podium with winner Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen, he had no idea what was brewing behind his back. Red Bull had submitted a complaint to the race management.
The allegation: Schumacher is said to have driven on the last lap with yellow flags with the rear wing flap open. Like Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa at the Spanish GP. At the time, both received a drive-through penalty because they had not significantly slowed down at the scene of the accident involving Michael Schumacher and Bruno Senna. Red Bull also called for this in the Schumacher case.
If a drive-through penalty is subsequently imposed, the driver is given 20 penalty seconds. Like Pastor Maldonado for colliding with Lewis Hamilton. Then Schumacher would not have landed in third place, but in ninth place. Two seconds behind Sergio Perez.
Trouble in the very last round
The controversial scene happened on the last lap on the 940 meter straight behind the swing bridge. There is the DRS zone, which this year was 120 meters longer than last year. At the end of the straight, Hamilton's McLaren was in the tire wall at Turn 12.
The activation zone for DRS began 215 meters after Turn 10. Shortly afterwards, a marshal on the right-hand side of the road displayed a stationary yellow flag. About 200 meters later there was another marshals with double waved yellow flags. Again on the right. Opposite, about 50 meters away, the traffic lights blinked yellow. That means for all drivers: take off the gas immediately, get ready to stop.
Red Bull warned Mark Webber after the bad experience with Vettel in Barcelona to keep his DRS closed. However, the Australian observed that the rear wing flap on the Mercedes opened just as the DRS zone began. Webber radioed that to the pits. Red Bull got TV recordings that confirmed Webber's statement.
Schumacher with open rear wing in the yellow zone
Team advisor Helmut Marko. 'From Mark's point of view, you can clearly see a yellow flag on the right-hand side and the open wing of the Mercedes on the left in the picture. There is no mistaking it.' Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn opposed: 'Michael has itWings closed 30 meters from the yellow zone. '
The FIA examined the case very carefully. First the drivers were interrogated, then the team managers from Red Bull and Mercedes. Michael Schumacher went home according to his testimony. He didn't even wait for the result: 'I'm not worried,' he said optimistically on the way out of the paddock. Schumacher was proven right. The technical analysis confirmed his statements.
In the standard control unit All DRS movements are also saved together with the GPS data and the accelerator pedal movements. In this case, even FIA electronics technician Alain Prudom had to go to roll call to the race control. The investigation showed that Schumacher actually drove with the DRS open at the first yellow flag . But where two yellow flags were waved and the yellow traffic light was blinking, it was closed again.
Speed more important than DRS position
'The DRS position is not decisive' explained FIA - Race director Charlie Whiting. 'There is no rule that says whether the rear wing under the yellow flag has to be open or to be. The only decisive factor is whether the driver in question has slowed down in the section or not. And Schumacher has slowed down significantly compared to the lap before.' As an aside, the Mercedes driver was even slower than Webber with the wing closed in the relevant section.
Red Bull's objection that Vettel and Massa were then punished for free in Barcelona does not apply to Whiting . 'That is a completely different case. Both had the DRS open in the entire yellow zone, and they did not slow down decisively. Michael took off the gas a lot. His box warned him at the same time with the words 'slow down'. At Vettel and Massa we couldn't see anything comparable in Barcelona. '
