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Warwick defends Singapore penalties

ESPN Staff
September 24, 2013 « Grosjean 'getting better and better' | Horner eyeing early title finish »
Derek Warwick was among the stewards who punished Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso © Sutton Images
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FIA driver steward Derek Warwick has defended the penalties handed out to Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso in Singapore.

Both drivers were reprimanded after Webber ran on to the track to hitch a lift back to the paddock on Alonso's Ferrari after the race on Sunday, with Alonso being penalised for stopping in a dangerous place. Warwick said that while he wants to see such acts repeated for the fans in future, drivers must be careful to ensure they are not compromising safety.

"It is not health and safety gone mad," Warwick told the Telegraph. "A driver could easily have been hurt. I hope we're not seen as killjoys. I want Formula One to be entertaining. I want it to be a spectacle. I'm a big fan of MotoGP and I wish we in Formula One could get closer to the drivers like they do in MotoGP.

"We have become a bit sterile in many ways in Formula One. But we cannot put drivers at risk. If it had been done in a safer manner then it might have been viewed differently, but this was potentially very dangerous. You can't have cars parked in the middle of a corner."

The reprimand was Webber's third of the season which automatically results in a 10-place grid penalty at the next race in Korea, and he has labelled the penalty as "comical".

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