Shortly after the race in which Lewis Hamilton overtook the Safety Car and virtually gained about 7 positions in the process, Ferrari hit out at the slowness with which the FIA stewards reacted to Ham's wrongdoing. It took the stewards more than 20 minutes to hand the Brit a drive-through penalty, a period in which he had already secured enough of a time gap ahead of 3rd placed Kamui Kobayashi to keep his 2nd place even with a 60 kph drive through the pit lane.
“I think the safety car rules have not played out for Ferrari, and McLaren was perhaps a bit naughty with the way it worked it, but it got a penalty for that,” said Red Bull's Christian Horner after the race, hinting that he doesn't echo Ferrari's “manipulation” comments at all.
“Arguably it didn't cost them, but that's just the way it worked out. I don't think it was manipulated. The FIA just need to look at the safety car rules in the future,” added the British manager.
Additionally, McLaren's team principal Martin Whitmarsh admitted he doesn't understand Alonso's frustration, as the rules have clearly been applied in Valencia and Ham was handed a penalty for his actions.
“Look at the incident itself – it was very, very difficult to avoid what had happened and it was minuscule. The matter always goes to the stewards. They made a decision. That is pretty normal in my experience of motor racing, but Fernando may have a different set of experiences,” said Whitmarsh after the race, according to Autosport.
Following the criticism launched towards Ferrari after their dramatic media attack as a result of the Valencia events, even team principal Stefano Domenicali tried to soften his organization's stance, arguing that perhaps Alonso's comments after the race were made in the heat of the moment.
“For sure Fernando was the man that was ruined by the situation,” Domenicali was quoted as saying to the AFP news agency, while also suggesting that Ferrari's view of the European GP as being “a scandal” was simply the way the fans have looked at it.
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