Schumi insists: We were back to racing

Michael Schumacher has defended his passing move on Fernando Alonso in Sunday's Monaco GP, insisting "we were back to racing conditions."


With the Safety Car coming in on the very last lap of the Monte Carlo race in order to allow Mark Webber to take the chequered flag, the message 'Safety Car in, track clear' was displayed and the green flags were waved. Schumacher took advantage of a somewhat sedate Alonso, passing him at the final corner to take sixth place.

However, the German's move was immediately called into question by the stewards, who after three hours of deliberation ruled that it was illegal based on Article 40.13, which states that "if the race ends whilst the Safety Car is deployed it will enter the pit lane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking."

Schumacher was handed a 20-second penalty, which saw him drop out of the points and down into 12th place.

Mercedes GP are appealing the decision, a move that Schumacher agrees with as he firmly believes that the message of 'track clear' meant he was allowed to race in the metres between the Safety Car line and the finish line.

"My race would have been pretty normal without the decision of the stewards afterwards," he said.

"The result in the very end, which put me back to twelfth place for now, was obviously disappointing for me and I can fully understand that we are appealing the decision.

"Our understanding was that the 'safety car in, track clear' message meant we were back to racing conditions, so I went for it and overtook Fernando."

Team boss Ross Brawn added that in his opinion racing was allowed because the grand prix was not finishing behind the Safety Car, which meant Article 40.13 was not valid.

"With regard to the penalty given to Michael, we believed that the track had gone green and the race was not finishing under a Safety Car when article 40.13 clearly would have applied.

"The reason for the Safety Car had been removed, the FIA had announced 'Safety Car in this lap' early on lap 78 and the track had been declared clear by race control. This was further endorsed when the marshals showed green flags and lights after safety car line one.."

Meanwhile, Damon Hill, an old time nemesis of Schumacher's who took the role of drivers' representative for the race, insists he made the right call, denying claims that it was a bit of revenge for their 1994 collision.

Hill told BBC Sport: "Believe me my only concern was that the right thing was done, if that was the case consistently things would be better.

"But there was a wry smile from Michael. Slightly ironic you could say."

Source: Planet F1