21/03/2005
NEWS STORY
Although he will not be penalised, in the eyes of race stewards at Sepang, Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella was adjudged to have been responsible for the incident which eliminated both he and WilliamsF1 driver Mark Webber.
Interviewed moments after the collision, Fisichella claimed that it wasn't his fault, but didn't go as far as blaming the Australian. Webber, on the other hand, was under no illusion: "I had a go at Fisi at turn 14 then Ralf passed me at turn 15," said the Australian, "but I managed to pass him again and close back up on Fisi.
"His (Fisichella's) tyres were getting worse and worse and I passed him at turn 14 but then he came down the inside at the next corner. He was really on the dirty stuff then. I was happy for him to go down there as I knew it would be difficult for him to stop. I went back to the clean stuff before braking and I don't think Giancarlo could stop - he braked too late on the dirty stuff, we interlocked wheels and he landed on top of my car!"
Clearly, the race stewards saw it pretty much the same way. Having viewed video evidence of the incident - shot from various angles - and talked with both drivers, they gave the Italian a warning, though he will not be penalised in Bahrain.
In addition to tyre wear, the Italian had suffered a massive loss of downforce following the loss of a piece of bodywork, thought to be a bargeboard.