Williams driver Alexander Albon recently criticized Formula 1’s penalty system. Background: Drivers in faster cars can currently afford a penalty in many cases without it having an impact on their result in the race.
Albon speaks from experience, as in Singapore he was cleared by Sergio Perez and lost points. The Mexican received a five-second penalty for the incident, but this had no impact on his eighth place at the end of the race.
“I think we are all frustrated by what happened in Singapore,” explains Williams team boss James Vowles. They are in a close fight in the World Cup, “and to lose a few points under these circumstances is frustrating.”
He still doesn’t share Albon’s criticism because: “The penalties were applied very fairly,” he emphasizes, explaining that a five-second penalty in such a case is “pretty reasonable.” “If you have a much faster car, five seconds obviously doesn’t make a difference.”
“But I’m more in favor of keeping the penalties constant,” emphasizes Vowles. This means: If in doubt, it is better to accept that a penalty will have no effect before you start assigning different penalties for similar incidents.
On Albon’s criticism, “that the drivers do nothing [aus Unfällen] “Because the penalties aren’t severe enough,” replies Vowles, “that there are some drivers who may drive differently than others.” But these drivers would usually also harm themselves.
“I am of the opinion that you are usually punished physically because the car [bei einem Unfall] is damaged,” said Vowles. That wasn’t the case in the specific case in Singapore, but he still wouldn’t change anything in the current punishment system.
“I think it’s pretty balanced at the moment,” explains the Williams team boss.