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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Pitcrew Shenanigans

Being Irish you would expect that I'd know how to spell shenanigans - I have to admit that it's just not true and I'm not too hot on Begorraghs either so don't judge me.  I do know how to spell some very interesting words which struck me after Melbourne "Blocking" is one, "Blatant" is another, and "Deliberate" is a third.

There is no question in my mind, having seen it happen live on TV, but that the RBR pitcrew deliberately came onto the pitlane to create a traffic hazard and block McLaren from exiting their pitbox at speed.  The spectacular bodyshaping made by the RBR poleman to avoid Jenson's car after his first pitstop shows just how tight they made the exit space.

The fact that later on in the race they sat in the pitlane for the McLaren pitstop when no RBR pitstop was going to happen is ample evidence that they were up to nefarious shenanigans.

Shenanigans, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is defined as "secret or underhand activities" while the online Mirriam Webster defines it as 1: a devious trick used especially for an underhand purpose, or 2a : tricky or questionable practices or conduct —usually used in plural b : high-spirited or mischievous activity —usually used in plural.

I think we know how to define RBR's Sunday pitwork and I'm of the opinion that such blatant blocking of a pit exit should be subject to a substantial fine and/or team penalty