Andy is not to be denied on the vexed question of the legality of the crane...

EG writes: I accept this is getting a bit complex, but isn't that what an F1 blog should de doing? Bravely chasing something down until we finally nail it. In this case, whether Lewis was legal or illegal when being lifted back onto the track in Germany.

Andy got the winning bid on this rules conundrum with his initial spotting of the relevant rules section(FIA International Sporting Code Appendix L Chapter IV.3).

b) should a driver be compelled to stop his/her car, either involuntarily or for any other reason, the car shall be moved off the track as soon as possible so that its presence does not constitute a danger or prevent the normal running of the race. If the driver is not able to move the car out of the potentially dangerous position, it is the duty of the marshals or other officials to help. In that case, if the driver succeeds in re-starting the car without any external help, and rejoins the race without committing any breach of the regulations and without gaining any advantage from the preceding movement of the car to a safer position, he/she will not be excluded from the race..."

Then Pionsinho seemed to have trumped him with his alerting us to the FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Regulations, on Appendix H to the Int. Sporting Code in chapter III.

6.1 If a car stops
If a car stops on the course, or leaves the track, the first duty of the course marshals in that sector is to take it to a place of safety. No driver has the right to refuse to allow his car to be taken off the track, he must do everything he can to help and obey the marshals’ instructions. Once the car is in a place of safety the driver may, if the specific regulations of the event permit, work on it in order to re-start. In such cases other means, such as breakdown vehicles, cranes, etc. should not be brought into action until the driver has made it clear that he will not continue. It is desirable that the driver stays near his vehicle until the end of the race or at least informs the post chief how his car may be lifted, or towed back to the pits.

But today Andy made it game, set and match(potentially, I grant you)  with this neat deconstruction of Pionsinho's position.
"Red herring.  Read it carefuly: "Once the car is in a place of safety.... In such cases other means, such as breakdown vehicles, cranes, etc. should not be brought into action until the driver has made it clear....This section does not apply as Lewis's car was not in a place of safety.  I interpret this section as being about letting the driver try to restart his car before it is craned away for good."

Fantastic stuff lads. I assume you are both lawyers or work for a team(in the, very busy, legal departments).

Comments

[Alberto Dietz]

Hamilton managed to keep his engine ON, hence he was within the rules.

[Pionsinho]

It's a twisted interpretation, for the uses of the crane. Read ALL it carefully.

"should a driver be compelled to stop his/her car, either involuntarily or for any other reason, the car shall be moved off the track as soon as possible so that its presence does not constitute a danger or prevent the normal running of the race."

One car needs moved from a safety position.

"If the driver is not able to move the car out of the potentially dangerous position, it is the duty of the marshals or other officials to help."

Move car out of the potentially dangerous position... it is out of the track, not in the middle of the track hanging by a four tonne crane.

And, in the end, the FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Regulations, point 6.1, warn:

"such as breakdown vehicles, cranes, etc. should not be brought into action until the driver has made it clear that he will not continue."

In the end of the situation, one crane leave car from dangerous situation for others participants.

If the Lewis crane actuation is goog, any driver come back to go out the car when the car is buried or in front of protections.

Acording you interpretation, the procedure is push the car to the track, and if necesary use de crane to lift it and carry it to the track while other cars hit the crane.

Very very twisted... and never seen before. But legal?

In all races, when a car leaves the course of the track, if return to it with a quickly and specific help, no problem and it's the best way to remove danger. If the help is slowly and heavy, the way is move away far of the track, logically.

When a person write the rules, I'm sure it think this... and when a person interpret de rules, must be understand this. A crane is a very big danguerous in the middle of the track, it must be used for move away dangerous objects in the track, not add new danger in the middle of the track with other cart hitting.

[Don Speekingleesh]

Lewis's car was in a position of safety - the safety car was out on track, rendering the track, and the run off areas safe. That's the point of the safety car.

[Gonzalo]

Was the track really a 'safety place' once the SC was deployed?
a. Liuzzi almost crashes into the crane.
b. the purpose of the SC is "to neutralise a race" (it does not say the track becomes a 'safety place', e.g. see a. above).
c. if any had to chose a safety place would the track be chosen?

In general, safety was very much compromised during the procedure.
If safety is the issue, the car should have been moved further away from the track.

Lewis' car was NOT moved to a safe position.

[Fernando]

(1) "In such cases other means, such as breakdown vehicles, cranes, etc. should not be brought into action until the DRIVER HAS MADE IT CLEAR THAT HE WILL NOT CONTINUE."

If the crane was brought into action Lewis couldn't continue.

or

If Lewis wanted to continue the crane should never have been brought into action.

(2) If you consider that Lewis's car was not in a place of safety (wide, open, plane, 20-30 mts away from the track, with plenty of gravel...), where the hell are places of safety in f1 circuits?

(3) "No driver has the right to refuse to allow his car TO BE TAKEN OFF THE TRACK, he must do everything he can to help and obey the marshals’ instructions. ONCE THE CAR is in a place of safety..."

Obviously "the place of safety" is somewhere "off the track"

[Emilio, USA]

Hi everybody,

I would like to add an non-written rule (also often used by FIA) for this particular case:

The driver of the car was Lewis Hamilton.

Otherwise, we would not been talking about this, because nobody out of him would have been craned to the track again.

P.D. Very funny the mental gymnast of the british press to describe Alonso's victory in Germany in their Monday's headlights. I think the english language has many adjectives to describe it.

[Adam Glogowski]

Folks,
I'd like to draw your attention to one other point:
Appendix H to the Int. Sporting Code in chapter III.6.1
"...No driver has the right to refuse to allow his car to be taken off the track, he must do everything he can to help and obey the marshals’ instructions."

Ed has written that he has "on good authority" that the marshals were asking/urging Lewis to get out of the car for his own safety. He didn't, and this was lauded as bravery/racing craft/regulations awareness.

But to me it seems like a breach of the rule I have just quoted, namely: "the driver must obey the marshals' instructions".

Anyway, the rules are just plain murky...
My personal view on "how it should be" is that if a car stops on or off the track for whatever reason during the race and the driver is unable to make it move again (i.e. restart the engine), he should get out of the car, his/her race finishes and the marshals move the car out of harm's way. The only exceptions would be stalling on start grid and stalling in pits.

Apart from that... sprinklers should be on the FIA homologation list for every circuit :-D

[Jose Ramon Fernandez]

Totally agree with Fernando's comment, I really like this blog but reading some of the non-sense interpretations that are supported by the author (game, set and match?) I'm starting to wonder if this is all a bad joke.

[Peter White]

Lewis was able to be craned back onto the track because the race had been stopped. All cars which were capable of returning to the grid could then do so, even if outside help was employed, and would then take up position according to their track positions on the lap before the red flag was shown. Lewis and his race engineer cleverly anticipated this situation and he stayed in his car with his engine running. If challenged as to why he did not leave his car, he could argue that with cars crashing all around him it was in fact safer to remain in the cockpit. Button left his car and was in great danger as a result.
However, in Paris McLaren are on an impossible wicket...

[jose]

Is it a safety place?
http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/1989/r_2007-07-22T131923-4.jpg

[kostakis]

Seems to me that the comments made by Adam Glogowski are the most sensible. Perhaps the FIA can explain why it has since outlawed this flanking manoevre in the future. Is it a case that the 'ladder', once used, is now being hoisted out of any future potential use (with the implicit provison that if the SuperBrit needs it again, they will duly run it down for him!). If it's so vital to the FIA, to Bernie, to the sponsors that we have a handsome, young, British champion (how many of the teams are British based again?) then let's hand it over now and run a series of show races, or are they in danger of doing that already?