After the Spaniard short-cut a chicane to get past Renault's Robert Kubica, Whiting reportedly contacted the Scuderia and advised them to tell the Spaniard to let Kubica repass him. If that was to occur, no drive-through penalty would have been imposed by the FIA stewards.
The FIA official said that he told that to Ferrari “immediately”. Nevertheless, Ferrari claims that Alonso had already distanced himself from the Pole when Whiting responded to their call.
“We just want to explain the facts so it is understood that we are not crazy,” said Ferrari's team manager Massimo Rivola in an interview with Italian newspaper La Stampa. “One minute and fifty five seconds is not immediately,” added the Italian official, hinting that almost two minutes had passed since Ferrari first contacted Whiting and the latter's response.
By the time Whiting issued the aforementioned advice to Ferrari, Kubica was already fighting for position with Jaime Alguersuari and Rubens Barrichello. Additionally, when the Scuderia asked Whiting again if Alonso should give his position back to Kubica, the Pole had already retired from the race.
Another curious aspect of Alonso's drive-through penalty was that it was issued at approximately the same time when the safety car was deployed (due to debris coming from Pedro de la Rosa's car), causing the Spaniard to drop more than 10 positions when he drove through the pit lane. Ferrari claims the debris was there on the track for several minutes before the FIA stewards finally reacted and made the SC announcement.
“This means that for two minutes that race was being held in unsafe conditions,” added Rivola.
Google News