The FIA has announced that Michael Schumacher will have a 10-place grid penalty at the next Grand Prix. The penalty comes after the Mercedes GP Petronas driver squeezed Rubens Barrichello into the pit wall in the closing laps of the Hungarian Grand Prix. Barrichello later said it was the most dangerous thing he had ever experienced in racing.
A 10-place grid penalty in the circumstances is perhaps not as harsh as it might have been.
joeblogsf1 
considering where MS usually starts on the grid, its not going to make that much difference to him. let off lightly I think he should have been banned as a lesson to all.
I agree Joe, I think he should have got a one race ban… and I’m a relative fan, was pleased when he came back, but now I’m sorry he did. He’s a shadow of the driver and the presence he was.
He needs to step down ASAP.. I want to see Petrov, Hulkenburg and Kobayashi, the stars of the next decade, not the star of the 90s and noughties.
Should have his license revoked…
I think the reaction has been slightly exaggerated due to Schumacher being involved, but I think its a fair enough penalty – it was dangerous driving and if it wasn’t penalised, it would have set a dangerous precedent.
10 grid spots not enough…. unacceptable driving dangerous he knew what he was doing as he turned his head to see where Rubens was.. Is this all that the stewards can do…
very lenient in my opinion
I’m surprised the penalty wasn’t harsher. I have read MS’s account and his actions have no defense. He didn’t move over until RB was already beside him.
Starting from the pit lane would of been a better punishment.
Joe
Is it not time for MS o retire before he causes an accident causing injury to either a fellow competitor, team memder, race official or worst of all member of the public.
Peter
I really hope that the guys from Lotus, Virgin and HRT will show him the way in Spa! 🙂
Good news. At 300 KPH that would have been a monumental shunt of aircraft proportions I would think. When you consider how much energy Rosberg errant wheel had who knows where Rubens and Michael would have ended up. Patrick Head must have loved it though.
Why bother? The FIA might have as well given Michael a hug and a big wet kiss!
10 grid places is perhaps a bit of a let-off considering he will probably be elimated in Q2 anyway so would be in the bottom half of the grid.
I think an immediate Black Flag would have been more appropriate and sent the message. Is killing Rubens really worth one point?
Let me clarify that. He will probably be last after the penalty is applied. He will immediately jump the new teams after the start because of the speed differential. So in reality, he lost 4 places and not much else.
Schumy’s move was really despicable in Hungary….and serves as a reminder what a cut-throat driver, team member…and brother he is.
About time too.
Schumacher has always been border-line with how aggressive he defends against being overtaken, but since his return hes been taking it WAY too far.
Had he been given a 1 race ban I cant imagine he’d have received much sympathy from outside of his own team.
I suppose we should be grateful that the stewards deigned to penalise him for once but this is pathetically weak.
Alex Wurz who has acted as a steward earlier this season was interviewed on BBC and he pointed out that Schumacher could clearly be seen to be looking in his right hand mirror for 200 metres. Wurz suggested that Schumacher should be sent to a doctor and have his superlicence removed.
A ten place penalty is hardly a deterent
I thing this a fair penalty. It would be unfair to ban the driver but it was a very unfair move.
Shumy fans will hate this but F1 is about so much more than one driver. It’s the one sport where knowledgable fans outweigh blinded team fanaticism that happens in football say. This should always be the way and a well done to the stewards for a logical fair conclusion. There shouldn’t need to be an accident for people to realise something was wrong and everybody who defends schumacher should think how they would of reacted if the outcome was different and that wall hadn’t ended!
“squeezed”… I think that’s a little bit of an understatement…
The penalty is fully justified and I agree completely that it is perhaps not as harsh as it might/should have been. I think a one race ban would be more appropriate!
Schumachers move would have warranted a one-race ban at least. I think he will just shrug this one off and nothing will change.
If they’d banned him we would also have had the pleasure of seeing Heidfeld competing against Rosberg – he hasn’t had any practice this year but I think he could well have looked better than Schumacher has this year.
Still a too light penalty to MSC, it was a plain murder intent. Disappointing! Go back to retiring!
Michael’s comeback shows that he has lost all of his strengths leaving only his faults on display…
I think this penalty has come 19 years to late!
Its always sad to see a once great driver resorting to such driving tactics, but as Mr Schumacher has always indulged himself with this type of maneuver, its not before time.
While his actions were indefensible, I don’t believe interfering with a driver’s qualifying position in the next race is ever a fair or appropriate punishment.
A more fitting (and effective) penalty would have been an immediate black flag (purely for symbolic purposes) and a suspended one-race ban. Having a potential ban (and the prospect of being substituted by a fired-up Heidfeld) hanging over him for the remainder of the season would ensure that Schumacher alters his behaviour. Being consistently outpaced by Rosberg is bad enough, but imagine the consequences of Heidfeld being more competitive than Schumacher…
10 places? This is a typical non-penalty. I would have fined him $100,000, and banned him for the next 2 races. What an asshole manouver.
Starting at the back of the grid will be good for him. He will actually overtake some one in a race!
Schumacher’s disgraceful and cynical behaviour this year is the sign of someone who seems to be out of their depth. If he’d come into F1 as a rookie and delivered the same level of performance and driving standards, he’d be replaced by now.
I think Ross Brawn and Norbert Haug need to review their expectations and see if they still align with Schumachers. Right now, he’s doing himself and Mercedes no favours.
Watching Haug try to fight Schumachers corner in the F1 coverage earlier was embarassing.
Time to go Michael, before you really cause a major accident and hurt someone.
Excluding him from the next race would have been a more appropriate response.
I’ve always disliked Schumacher, but thought I could give him a go this year. I respected the decision to lay his reputation on the line because he just needed to scratch that racing itch.
But its only served to remind me of why I disliked him, and thats the willfull disregard for other people. Today, and in Canada. The only difference is he doesn’t have the speed anymore to counter-act his nasty side. And don’t be giving me anything about the car – Rosberg has wiped the floor with him this year, pretty much one of the more dominant intra-team rivalries this year.
Joe what would be more harsh options for stewards?
Think it’s time shumacher left this sport for good ! That kind of unsportsmanlike and dam right dangerous manoeuvre may have been ok in the 70’s but nowadays it’s criminal as in he could have killed Rubens ! 10 place grid penalty is nothing as he struggles to score points anyway so he’s got away with it !
I was a very strong Mr. Michael Schumacher supporter since he followed Mr. Senna, to his demise.
However, reflecting on this latest incident, at the Hungarian Grand Prix, with Mr. Barrichello, I have lost my admiration.
An admiration that was well deserved, for so many years. I, as many, thought that he would be a great Driver, and an Ambassador for the sport of the Formula One Series of automobile racing, going into the future.
After today’s blatant example of total disregard for his follow Drivers, I must bow my head in shame, and come to the realization that I followed a once brilliant Driver, that has become an outright unstable bully.
My regard for Mr. Schumacher is rapidly fading to black.
The 10 place grid penalty definitely does not adequately reflect the seriousness of the incident, and should be further reviewed, by everyone involved in the Formula One series, be they decision makers, media, or fans.
I apologize.
The talent’s gone but the dirty (pointless) tricks remain.
That was possibly the most shockingly poor driving that I have seen since Milka Duno at every IndyCar race. Unbelievable…
I think a 10 grid penalty seems about right. That and a compulsory visit to a shrink.
It was as scary as it can get and I’m surprised that the punition was just that. God knows where the cars would end if they touched wheels by the pitwall like that.
He continues to get off lightly, the TV pictures showed just how close Rubens got to the end of the pit wall, great driving by him; Schumacher will keep on doing similar actions until harshly punished
I think the move by Schumacher was dangerous and the FIA were correct to look at it.
The biggest issue with it was not the risk of putting it Barrichello in the wall – though that would have been horrendous – it was if a car had been coming out of the pitlane. The result of that does not bear thinking about.
For that it deserved a penalty. I personally thought a race ban would have been appropriate, but then a 10 place drop from where Schumacher is qualifying is pretty much the same as far as points are concerned.
Having said that I don’t think this move was significantly worse than many moves that currently happen in F1. It seems to have become the norm for drivers to confuse defending their position with pushing their competitor off the circuit.
Webber did it to Vettel at the Silverstone start, Vettel did it to Alonso off the start in Germany – similarly almost into the pitwall. The examples are never ending, it happens almost every time someone tries an overtake around the outside – the defending driver just runs them off at the exit of the corner.
It’s time that driving standards in F1 were clamped down on. The best racing happens where drivers give each other space on the track – see the McLaren drivers at Turkey.
I hope that this incident can be the stimulus to look at what is and isn’t tolerated. If everyone who ran a competitor off the road was penalised – or had to give up the position like cutting corners – I think we could see far more racing – drivers may actually try passing around the outside if they knew they were not going to be immediately run off the road on the exit. Would Rubens have gone inside today? Probably not!
I think that this incident should also lead to a review of the pitlane exit line policy. I’ve never understood why exiting cars need to stay within the line, yet cars on the circuit can go over it at racing speeds. It’s an accident waiting to happen. Surely it is time to make it illegal to cross it both ways – at least for the parts immediately near the pitwall end where the cars are unsighted.
I agree, considering how stupidly dangerous what Schumacher did was, a 10 place penalty is a lucky escape. I think a one race ban would have made an example of him, which would have been welcome as squeezing fellow competitors up against the pitwall at 200mph has no place in motor racing and needs to be stamped out.
About time!! This false idol has built his career on a series of dubious and dangerous moves, intimidating teams, team mates and rookie drivers.
His championships are littered with incidents that lack sporting integrity, banned from the WDC in 97, Shunting Damon Hill off to ensure he not Hill took the WDC, Ferrari gate 2002 etc, etc, etc, right up to Kubica in Canada and Barrichello at Hungary.
As we heard in the after race commentary from Coulhard and Brundle, they both have been run off track by the great one as have most driver’s in his generation.
No doubt the man has skill, but his mentality is tainted, as are his championships. We almost lost one of the most well loved sporting F1 heroes of the last 20 years, through nothing more than personal arrogance.
Time for the tyrant to Schue off.
Sitting out the next round would’ve been fitting.
good, deserved it!
love it, the Old Schumacher is back
No problem giving him a penalty -it was a hard move, – although it would be nice to have some consistencies with the stewards – I’ve seen similar a number of times this year with no punishment (Vettel last two races) , I’ve seen a driving weaving down pit straight blocking, with no punishment, I’ve seen a driver race a safety car – with a lame “punishment”.
so much for conistency…
oh well…
Not severe enough, dangerous driving as deliberate as it was should result in a race suspension! What is it going to take before the stewards get tough …….a fatality!
They should have given him a race off to think about it.
“Schumacher is caned by the FIA”
Tickled, surely.
Joe, you may just have set a new bar for pointed understatement.
do you think vettel was making excuses when he said he lost radio contact with the team and this resulted in him falling too far behind the safety car?
He should have been banned for one race at the very least,i have never seen such blatant disregard for another drivers life in recent F1,than i saw today,racing and defending is one thing,to force a driver with no where to go accept a wall of concrete is beyond comprehension,he is lucky this time and all this does is to undermine his achievements in F1.
Schumi deserves EVERY BIT of it too!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s about time to crack down on him as his other “drives” have also been arrogantly dangerous, like in Canada for example.
From that stupid move only right penalty is Black Flag.
Schumi cannot win either way – aquiesce, and people will say the old man has lost it. Be tough – after all, Rubens could have gone AROUND – and people will say he’s still a bully.
But Rubens is a drama queen – and last year proved it for all to see. Yes, he loves racing. But please shut up and race – punching on Schumi is an easy target…
Thoroughly deserved. As a Schumacher fan this has been a tolerable year until that move on Rubens today. Not a bit of it was about hard racing or protecting position, it was about being passed by a driver Michael has no respect for and it became incredibly and unnecessarily dangerous. What a punk move. Michael should be benched for Spa as well.
There is a phrase involving leopards and spots! It applies here.
If that had gone wrong it wouldn’t have just been a Mercedes wheel flying down the pitlane…
Ten places seems like a terribly LIGHT penalty for a move that could easily have seen the biggest (and most dangerous) accident of the year (and yes, I do remember Webber’s flip in Valencia…).
Forcing another driver into the wall isn’t a sign of toughness or admirable competitive spirit. It’s reckless and ridiculous. If I were Rubens, I’d have thumped Schumacher after the race.
At least some things Schumi hasn’t unlearned…
Very true. The penalty is definitely not really that harsh when viewed in context…the incident was frightening indeed. I don’t want to think about what might have been.
A 10 place grid penalty is a joke and the stewards continue to hand out penalties akin to a slap on the wrist with a wet bus ticket. Shu is an arrogant idiot and his actions were absolutely disgraceful. He should be banned for life and sent home to clean the horse s”t out of Corinnas stables.
He could have killed him, or forced Rubens into someone exiting from the pitlane. It was terrifying. Much like that flying wheel. And Webber’s crash a few weeks ago? Imagine if that had happened at Silverstone and he’d hit one of those bridges? It is a terrifying sport, I think they’ve had a few lucky breaks of late. Noone is invincible.
The incident should provide the punctuation of his comeback. Frankly he should have gotten excluded from the next race in Spa to let him think about it, and give Mercedes the excuse that they apparently need to replace him with Heidfeld. Anything less simply rewards his outrageous on track behavior.
His “comeback” has tarnished his reputation among his longtime fans and provided ammunition to his longtime critics. In both respects it has been utterly and absolutely disastrous for everyone involved except Nico Rosberg.
I don’t think anyone can argue with that, except to say that it may not have been serious enough.
The replays show him looking in his mirrors to see where Reubens was going, and then move to cut him off, finally trying to put him into the wall. There would have been just a few centremetres between Reubens taking the place, and becoming a smear on the road.
Surely, Schumacher has destroyed much of his own legacy with that move alone.
He had finished his career as a tough but successful driver, now he’s just a hack who can’t acknowledge any fault in himself.
Perhaps Schumacher should follow Kimi into rallying.
So just a slap on the wrist then?
This action was worth a black flag during the race as well as an exclusion for one race.
It could have ended so very wrong.
Old Dog: New Tricks.
Time to take him to the vet, pat him on the head, and say goodbye.
I think a holiday was in order…. 10 spot grid penalty is lite
Sorry but a 10 place penalty is just not enough!
He should be getting a holiday for such reckless behaviour IMHO!
That was one of the most blatantly dangerous things I’ve seen in over twenty years. I just wish he would retire again. A ten place grid drop somehow doesn’t seem enough. Senna punched Irvine after Suzuka 93. I wonder what Barrichello did… Still, Mark Webber was blinding, he’s now two wins ahead of anyone else, and I hope he carries on….
I think it deserved a one race ban for Schumacher.
What he (and one or two other drivers including Vettel) seem to have forgotten is that the pit wall is NOT the edge of the track. The solid white line about 6 feet from the pit wall is the edge of the track.
Quite right too, Brawn’s explanation that, “I Don’t think for a moment that he saw Rubens there and thought ‘I will squeeze him'” doesn’t make sense. Brundle &/or Legard pointed out that Schumacher could be seen looking into his right hand mirror, he knew exactly where Rubens was.
“Barrichello later said it was the most dangerous thing he had ever experienced in racing”. Wow! Sure he’s full of adrenalin, however Rubens has seen a lot of carnage over the years…not the least of which was his crash at Imola 94…As for sport? Schumacher is still the selfish bastard he’s always been….10 grid spots are nowhere near enough….it also means that Britney will out qualify him yet again…no surprise really
Schumacher’s tendency to aim cars at people was developed before his formula 1 career began. There was an incident where he drove his Mercedes sportscar into Derek Warwick in the ealy ’90’s. Warwick, having recently lost his brother in a motor racing accident, was well aware of the dangers of the sport and confronted the young Schumacher but as I recall refrained from physical violence when he looked into Schumacher’s eyes and was reminded of a frightened schoolchild. I wonder if Warwick thought of this in the stewards’ room last Sunday.
I agree with Rubens that Schumacher has set, and continues to represent, a bad example to the drivers in the junior formulae. It is a pity that this continues to tarnish the reputation of an unquestionably great driver.
It’s sad to see that Schumacher has lost his cutting edge but not his ruthlessness. This action was petty and dangerous’ his comments afterwards about Barrichello plain nasty and unnecessary. He should retire again.
these actions must be penalised always..
ARTS 2,b&c of Chaper IV Sporting code
b) ….. “manoeuvres liable to hinder other drivers, such more than one change of direction to defend a position, deliberate crowding of a car beyond the edge of the track or any other abnormal change of direction, are strictly prohibited. Any driver who appears guilty of any of the above offences will be reported to the stewards of the meeting.”
c) Drivers must use the track at all times. For the avoidance of
doubt:
– the white lines defining the track edges are considered to
be part of the track but the kerbs are not and
– a driver will be judged to have left the track if no part of the
car remains in contact with the track.
and why not penalised Vettel for illegal pit lane entry?
chapter IV, art 4-D.
d) Except in cases of force majeure (accepted as such by the Stewards of the Meeting), the crossing, in any direction, of the line separating the pit entry and the track is prohibited.
Maybe Vettel entry to pit lane was a ‘case of force majeure’?
and.. don’t see team orders with SC and red bulls?
No.. Vettel give more than 3 sec’s because he loves his team mate.. sure.
MS was clearly looking in his right mirror. I know the rules state you can move once to defend your position, but how far is really the true question. Surely a drivers safety is more important than one point in the championship.
MS should have been given a race ban, easy. And the stewards would have done Mercedes GP a big favour then – considering how slow the guy has been since he came back. The sooner he retires again the better for F1.
This type of driving has become too common with a number of drivers swerving at other drivers who have the audacity to try and pass. The most obvious recent example not involving Schumacher was Vettel trying to stop Alonso at the start in Hockenheim last week. There are undoubtedly many others!
My first memory of this was Ayrton Senna in Portugal in 1988 who, similarly, almost put Alain Prost into the pitwall. From memory, there was no action taken against Senna and FISA tacitly gave their approval to this type of driving. Thankfully the stewards have now taken a stance indicating that this driving is unacceptable (is this anything to do with the change at the top of the FIA?). However, I don’t think the penalty was harsh enough: like Rubens I was calling for a black flag, although, with hindsight, the stewards cannot be expected to give snap judgements; however, I think that MS should be banned from the next race. That would send out a clear signal to everyone in F1 and, more importantly, the junior formulae that this type of driving is no longer tolerated. Having said that, I think we have taken a positive step back to improved driver etiquette.
Seems the frustrations of running midfield is really getting to Schumacher clearly wants to be upfront again and is making stupid mistakes
I am appalled that this is the only penalty handed down. That move was deliberate and potentially deadly! I have zero respect for Schumacher.
Hi Joe,
There was an interesting comment on the BBC post race forum from, I believe, Martin Brundle
The gist of which was that if Michael could have restrained himself from some of his ‘Dick Dastardly’ style manoeuvers during his career, he would probably have won 3 races and 1 championship fewer. He would however have a hugely more positive image and legacy.
We are all well aware that there is the Schumacher can do no wrong contingent.
There are many more, like me who admire his superb skill as a drlver and team leader, but find him a flawed character and very difficult to support.
His post race interview illustrated this perfectly. Using this seasons favourite tactic (see also Alonso and Ferrari ) of treating the journalist and viewers as idiots.
Great Blog, keeo up the good work
Michael has, since, admitted that the move was wrong, proving that he is man enough to do so. I admire that, immensely.
Some of the rather ugly (and venomous) defensive comments of the move, by those who claim to be his “fans”, on various forums and websites (before his admission), leave much to be desired.
genuinely surprised he didn’t get a bigger penalty. schumacher is the ONLY driver out there pulling this kind of audacious stuff any more – everyone else takes a more sensible approach or has moved on from those dirty days.
From Jackie Stewart – who I hardly ever take notice of…anyway, I’m a Schumacher fan, but I do agree with this
Stewart said: “For one driver to do that deliberately, knowing that the wheels could interlock and that he had nowhere to go, was shocking.
“It was one of the most blatant abuses of another driver that I have seen. It is a terrible example from a man who has seven world titles, bully-boy tactics.” Schumacher was given a 10-place grid demotion for the Belgian Grand Prix but Stewart added: “The punishment was the minimum they could do. It cannot go on.”
@Gilles VilleneuveFan: Senna’s move on Prost was only similar, because he left Prost considerably more room. You can compare the two situations on YouTube as long as uncle Bernie’s media watchdogs do not intervene (again).
As I remember Senna also had lots more of charisma and character than Schumacher. In Estoril Senna explained his move on Prost as a reaction to something which happened between the two of them before.
Surely one can argue about whether this is enough to justify pushing your rival into a wall. Senna too had some dark side of his character, but the character he was. Do you remember Schuey in such situations ever being anything else than an ignorant and spoiled small boy pretending to be innocent? Or like a Hotel de Paris’ valet parking boy who can’t explain why and how the hotel guest’s Ferrari made all the way down to Rascasse instead of being parked in the hotel’s garage immediately upon arrival.
How many millimetres is ‘sporting’?
Complaining spectators know little about the ‘limit’ or ‘line’ (between racing and catastrophe) that Schumi didn’t cross on this occassion.
Previous incidents have zero bearing. Duh
The fact Senna lefta little more room is irrelevant. Senna like Schumacher had a history of ramming opponents before he reached F1. Senna rammed Brundle more than once and Schumacher rammed Hakkinen.
Both drove in an entirely unacceptable way.
Ifyoubelieve Jackie Stewart is right, which he clearly is, how can you be a fan of Schumacher? It’s not like he hasn’t done similar stupidly dangerous things a dozen times before
@ Al Jo
I couldn’t agree more. Both Schumacher’s & Alonso’s post race interviews I found very nauseating.
Makes me wonder about Alonso’s post McLaren & Singapore interviews too.
They certainly aren’t sportsmen in the true sense for the word.
PS .. If I was offered an evening with Schumacher, Alonso or Barrichello I certainly know who I’d want to spend my time with.