What happened to Alex Müller

[Marcel ten Caat]

Alex Müller finished as 6th after his last turn battle with Ricardo Mauricio. BUT below is what the FIA site says is the result, what happened to Alex? was he disqualified because he pushed Ricardo on the tunnel exit or is it just an error of the FIA?

1 6 Sebastian Bourdais FRA Super Nova Racing 45 1:07:40.545 134.449 1:28.998 39
2 9 Patrick Friesacher AUT Red Bull Junior Team 45 1:07:58.971 18.428 133.842 1:29.280 36
3 19 Tomas Enge CZE Arden International 45 1:08:08.174 27.629 133.541 1:28.964 17
4 3 Antonio Pizzonia BRA Petrobras Junior Team 45 1:08:08.985 28.440 133.514 1:29.295 18
5 4 Ricardo Sperafico BRA Petrobras Junior Team 45 1:08:15.345 34.800 133.307 1:29.241 39
6 14 Mario Haberfeld BRA Team Astromega 45 1:08:09.245 88.700 131.575 1:30.663 22
7 10 Ricardo Mauricio BRA Red Bull Junior Team 44 1:07:28.052 DNF 131.867 1:30.841 36

T

[Ian-S]

Maybe they chucked him out, I think he hit Mauricio about 10 times during the race

[Marcel ten Caat]

From the Red Bull Junior Team Racereport:

In the last lap, Müller then touched Mauricio in the Rascasse, Mauricio thus ending up in the planks. The race directors are currently dealing with that fact, but the Brazilian was ranked 8th.

Looks like he indeed was thrown out and that made Haberfeld scoring the last point of the day (on his birthday)

[Speedworx]

I have yet to see a report which says he was DSQ. So I'm sticking with the original result for now.

[Marcel ten Caat]

You can, but the FIA isn't

[Marcel ten Caat]

Mario Haberfeld
“To be honest this was not one of my better races. I lost momentum at the start because I ran a little bit wide, mainly because I saw Rob on the inside and was worried that we might collide. After that a couple of cars passed me – and if you lose places at Monaco it is almost impossible to get them back because the track is too narrow to permit overtaking in a normal racing situation.

“Once the race settled down I was following the battle for sixth place between Ricardo Mauricio and Alex Müller. I was keeping my distance because I felt sure they might crash – they were persistently bumping into each other. In the end it was me who hit the barrier first, when I ran wide at the last corner with a couple of laps to go. Fortunately the car wasn’t damaged and I was able to make it to the finish. The other two tangled at the final corner and I passed Mauricio’s stricken car, then Müller was given a time penalty for over-aggressive driving and that put me up to sixth. It’s not the best way to score points, but we came away with some reward from a difficult weekend and we are still in the thick of the title battle.”

[R]

I for one am not too pleased about penalties for "over-aggressive driving". I want to see action on the track, and the duel between Mauricio and Müller was very exciting. If the officials are going to penalize drivers who might be a little bit aggressive when they attempt to overtake, we might see even less overtaking than what we currently are treated to. There will be even less overtaking and more processions, if drivers are to fear being demoted down the rankings if they should happen to touch the other car during an attempt to overtake. Monaco will in that case only be a case of "follow the leader" - even more so than now.

Down right dangerous driving should of course be penalized, but that's a different issue IMO.

[bella]

sorry to be irrelevant, but i love the way durango goes through babelfish as 'flat broke'

at monaco though, cause it's such a narrow track, i think it's only fair that someone should be penalised. you've got to be careful...

[Speedworx]

Shame for Muller, good for Haberfeld our Brit

[AndyF]

According to Autosport.com after being given a time penalty, his car was found to be underweight, and he was excluded altogether.

[R]

When it rains, it really pours...

[Speedworx]

Double whammy!

[Marcel ten Caat]

Stewards' Meeting
Note Number One
The Stewards of the Meeting received a report from the Technical Delegate which stated that during post-race checks, the weight of car number 20 (Alex Muller) was found to be 3.5kg below the minimum weight as set out in Article 4.1 of the 2002 FIA Formula 3000 Technical Regulations. The Driver and Team Manager were summoned to report to the Stewards.

Having heard the explanation of the Team Manager and the Technical Delegate, the Stewards referred to the aforementioned Article and decided to exclude car number 20 (Alex Muller) from the Official Race Classification.

Note Number Two
The Stewards of the Meeting received a report from the Race Director stating that the Driver of car number 20 (Alex Muller) hit the back of car number 10 (Ricardo Mauricio) on at least four occasions.

Having viewed video evidence and heard explanations from the Driver and Team Representative, the Stewards of the Meeting decided to impose a 25 second penalty on car number 20 (Alex Muller) in accordance with Article 40(a) and Article 41 of the 2002 FIA Formula 3000 Sporting Regulations.

Note Number Three
The Stewards of the Meeting received a report from the Race Director stating that the Driver of car number 10 (Ricardo Mauricio) blocked car number 20 on the approach to turn 12 by making more than one change of direction to defend his position, contrary to Article 2 Chapter IV, Appendix L of the 2002 FIA International Sporting Code.

Having viewed video evidence and heard explanations from the Driver and Team Representative, the Stewards of the Meeting decided to issue a reprimand to the Driver of car number 10 (Ricardo Mauricio) and warned him as to his future conduct.